Posted on 01/15/2016 7:51:50 AM PST by GonzoII
Months ago, during the Summer of Trump, Republicans looked at the appearance of this gross, comic, orange interloper among them with a mix of shock and disdain. Fox News tried to discredit him as a serious candidate; nobody else onstage knew quite what to do with him. Since then, Trump has created facts on the ground, making himself an indispensable element of the party. He now seems completely normal.Part of it is that Trump has gotten better, more polished. His cartoonish facial gestures come less frequently. He is less outrageous (and less funny). He seems to control his tone more effectively.
But mainly, Republicans have decided to start treating him as a regular candidate and a member of their party in good standing, rather than an impostor who has hijacked it on a lark. He faced the same softball questions as everybody else, with no follow-ups. (Would you put your business in a blind trust if elected? Trump: Oh, yeah, I'd let my kids run it. In other words, no.)
Jeb Bush went after Trump on his unfathomable proposal to exclude all Muslim immigrants, but he did so almost as a supplicant, asking him to "reconsider." It was as if Bush was afraid Trump would turn on him again, and Trump, recognizing Bush's gesture as a plea for mercy, reciprocated.
Signs have popped up everywhere that Republicans have not only begun to accept Trump as one of them, a regular candidate, but to even resign themselves to his candidacy.
From my convos,GOP estab mood on Trump moving from fear/loathing to resignation/rationalization,ie he'd run better than cruz & slam Hillary - Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) January 13, 2016
Same source (when I ask what's happening on the ground): "On the ground? Everyone literally is getting resigned to Trump as nominee." - Matt Lewis (@mattklewis) January 14, 2016
Trump was Trump and that means he had a good night. I give him a 60% shot of being the GOP nominee. - Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) January 15, 2016
Indeed, Trump's numbers have not only risen, but the entire backdrop of his position has changed. The percentage of Republican voters who could see themselves supporting Trump has grown from 23 percent last March to 65 percent now. Trump could now beat Marco Rubio (a popular figure within the party) in a head-to-head matchup. He remains far from inevitable. The first vote will still not be cast for weeks. Yet those of us who believed Republican elites would kill Trump's candidacy out of self-preservation have to face the increasingly plausible prospect that, for whatever reason, they may lay down their arms before a shot has been fired.
Cruz would lose the general election. Trump will win it.
More and more people are recognizing this fact.
Trump/Cruz 2016
>> he’d run better than cruz & slam Hillary - Rich Lowry
I prefer Cruz, but I’ll grant that Trump has better odds of doing campaign ultraviolence on Hillary Clintoon. And I would certainly enjoy seeing her heinous brutalized. I might actually enjoy a POTUS campaign for a change.
“...before a shot has been fired”
???
I hadn’t noticed the GOPe’s pacific behavior...
Now Trump needs to be REALLY careful.
The GOP-e will want back in on the gravy train and they will use any way possible to get it.
Yet many here deny it. Fair enough, but I’m getting very tired of being called names when I have been quite civil to Cruz folk.
I’m getting very tired of being called names when I have been quite civil to Cruz folk.
Trump came out of the gate on June 15, 2015 and hasn’t taken a breath since...
You want to talk about people that are winners? They start, and they never quit till they are at the finish line, and they give it all they have...they don’t lock things up that they don’t want people to know about, they open their whole lives up like a book to read...
Trump is a winner, always has been and always will be, that’s the AMERICAN way....TO WIN....
Cruz is right on the issues, has a brilliant mind, is a masterful debater, and would appoint excellent judges. Unfortunately, he lacks charm, and I think that may be his undoing. There is more to an argument than winning. You must win and win people over. Ronald Reagan was successful because he not only won debates, he did so in a charming way.
Except for Priebus and Haley, the tone does seem to have shifted, ever so slightly.
In one Bush clip, he said they need to coalesce around the nominee, regardless of which one it is.
Ed Rollins on FoxNews this morning basically conceded that Trump is the likely nominee and that the party will get behind the nominee.
Earlier this week were reports of Priebus trying to get a consensus of wannabes to attack Trump. That effort didn’t even get off the ground.
Yes, there are some Trumperjerks, but I agree that the Cruzers are ahead in the insult department by a good margin. In my many years here, I have never been called the kind of shiite I’ve been called the past 2 weeks. Oh well, still ax’ing for calm here : )
Cruz is right on the issues, has a brilliant mind, is a masterful debater, and would appoint excellent judges. Unfortunately, he lacks charm, and I think that may be his undoing. There is more to an argument than winning. You must win and win people over. Ronald Reagan was successful because he not only won debates, he did so in a charming way.
They do not want The Donald. If they thought they would not have a lackey in Cruz, they certainly would not be able to get around Trump.
They want to destroy Trump too.
IMHO - If Trump would completely lose it over a mic that he is using improperly and blame it on someone else, can you imagine him getting upset at a press conference when discussing ISIS?
Kraut said Trump won the debate last night. Unreal!
” Ronald Reagan was successful because he not only won debates, he did so in a charming way. “
Yeah, if you can charm a life long reprobate like Tip O’Neil, you’ve got something going!
Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) has been predicting for months that Trump will win in November by a landslide. I think more and more Republicans are coming around to the same position.
My dog could beat Hillary or Bernie.
With no hesitation, points to his family, “they will take care of it. My #1 job is to take care of America.”
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