When This Blows Over

But one candidate who won’t be looking for the opportunity is Cruz; he’s
angling to take the reins of Trump’s buckboard of bigotry when Trump falls
off and then ride it to the nomination.
He may have to wait. Trump can be scorched in the debate; but he won’t
flame out because he won’t run out of money, even if he is a few billion shy
of ten. He can hold on indefinitely, and he’s not the type to recognize reality
and retreat from the race. In the end, denied a nomination he can’t win,
there’s a more-than-reasonable chance that he pulls a Perot and runs
as an independent. That’s what I’m rooting for and would advise the
Great Bloviator to do. The “crazies” deserve a voice, and he’s it. And
the GOP deserves to pay a price—the presidency—for appeasing and
exploiting the politics of nativism and resentment that has spawned
and nourished the low, mean Know-Nothingism of Donald Trump.
***
By Erick Erikson, frequent commentator, radio host and founder of the blog
RedState.
Congress goes on recess in August, you have the GOP debate and people
will start to take a look at all the other candidates in relation to Trump. I
think he begins a decline toward Iowa. If you delve into the polling, a lot of
people who are right now saying they intend to vote for Trump are really
saying they just like what he is saying. As others begin to get attention, he
fades. One caveat though: if the GOP keeps pounding Trump instead of
ignoring him, they buy him time. The longer the party elite bash Trump,
the more the base loves him.
By Mary Matalin, Republican political strategist.
With apologies to, and respect for, my conservative friends and colleagues,
Donald Trump is not only not hurting the GOP, he is a boon to it.
Candidates would be well advised to pay close attention to the forensics of
his approach, and apply their own unique personalities and policies to their
campaign efforts. And the GOP leadership should quit insulting him, giving
him an excuse to mount a third-party candidacy.