Republican advocates are concerned the party could cost them 'ticket splitters' with Supreme Court vote

Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) are both in jeopardy of losing their re-election bids, and polls show President Trump is also struggling in Maine and Colorado, so it seems like the GOP's platform isn't registering in the two states. Still, there's hope among Republicans that voters will split their tickets between the Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and down-ballot Republicans. But, Peter Nicholas writes for The Atlantic, that's fading as the GOP pushes to confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee as swiftly as possible.

In Nicholas' view, Collins, Gardner, and others would likely get a boost if Trump put off the nomination, allowing the winner of the presidential contest to make the selection. At the very least, he writes, he could announce the nominee during the lame-duck period, meaning senators wouldn't have to cast polarizing votes before their elections. (Collins said she won't vote for the nominee because it's an election year, while Gardner said he's prepared to approve Trump's unnamed nominee.)

As things stand, both those scenarios are unlikely, which has some Republican advocates worried they'll lose crucial down-ballot votes. "I need suburban women to be ticket splitters, and I can't lose them as ticket splitters," Sarah Chamberlain, the CEO of the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership, told The Atlantic. "If we don't handle this correctly as a party, we're going to have a problem."

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While there's a sense Trump is willing to abandon senators like Gardner and Collins, some analysts think Trump is also being left out to dry — by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Read more at The Atlantic. Tim O'Donnell