Republican strategists and party officials are circulating a plan of action that they are close to enacting, based on the premise that Donald Trump will almost certainly lose the presidential election. The plan is a way for congressional campaigns to untangle themselves from the Trump campaign, saving their own skins in November.Party strategists are mapping out blueprints for down-ballot candidates, in TV ads and on the campaign trail, to present themselves as checks on a Hillary Clinton presidency. It s an approach that would essentially admit a Trump loss. In interviews, nearly one dozen Republican operatives said they had begun poll-testing the idea   which one labeled a  break glass in case of emergency  strategy   to gauge how the public would react to it.The last time Republicans essentially abandoned their nominee was in 1996, when it became clear that Senator Bob Dole would lose to President Bill Clinton. Clinton went on to win that race with 379 electoral votes and victories in 31 states and Washington, D.C. But Republicans were able to stop the bleeding and held on to House and Senate seats.Politico reports that the emergency election plan involves an appeal based on telling voters that Republicans want congressional seats in order to provide a check on the power that Hillary Clinton would have as President. Infamous Republican political operative Karl Rove seems to be on board.The deliberations extend to the highest levels of the party. American Crossroads, the influential conservative group that was co-founded by Karl Rove, has tested to see how voters would feel about Republicans casting themselves as being a check and balance to Hillary Clinton, according to four sources familiar with the deliberations.The existence of this plan, and the fact that so much of it is already mapped out, is very nearly a concession in the presidential race before it s even September.Featured image via Flickr