There was tremendous animus to President [Barack] Obama. Many of people said he was un-American, not a Christian and worse.
Mara LiassonIf [Donald] Trump loses narrowly, it will make it much harder for the GOP to unify. Under that scenario, the Trumpists are likely to argue that the election was lost because the Republican establishment failed to rally around the choice their own voters made.
Mara LiassonIf [Donald] Trump drags down a bunch of Senate Republicans, the post-election GOP assessment will be much more pessimistic.
Mara LiassonYes, the presidential race is very close, and some public polls show it getting closer as we go into the final hours, but in one sense it's actually been stable for months.
Mara LiassonSenate races have tightened along with the presidential race. Watch to see how many Republican Senate candidates outperform Donald Trump - and how many hang on to their seats in states that he loses.
Mara LiassonI think that's why we see this mixed reaction - Republican congressional leaders like Paul Ryan speaking out very firmly, but Republican candidates not as much, with the exception of the candidates in the single digits like Jeb Bush or Lindsey Graham, who said how to make America great again tell - Donald Trump to go to hell.
Mara Liasson