Get ready, Donald Trump. You’re about to run into a buzz saw.

WaPo ^ | 11 Mar 2016 | Greg Sargent

[mandaladon]

THE MORNING PLUM:

At last night’s debate, Donald Trump lorded it over his rivals with supreme confidence. Gone was narcissistic, rambling, insult-spraying Trump. In his place stood calm, unifying, presidential Trump. The Donald noted with satisfaction that his foes were mostly laying off of him. “I can’t believe how civil it’s been up here,” he said, by which he really meant, “all you losers have surrendered to me, and I’m loving every minute of it.” And Trump may be right: it’s possible that by next week, he will be on a path to winning the nomination outright.

But if there is anything last night’s debate really revealed, it’s that Trump may not have any idea what is about to hit him soon enough. If Trump does become the nominee, he will run into a buzz saw of reality otherwise known as the general election, and he may not know how badly mangled he’ll get.

Last night’s debate is being widely described as a shift in tone: rather than lob schoolyard insults at each other, the GOP candidates had a real policy debate. And that’s true. But in the process, the debate really revealed the limitations to the scrutiny Trump has faced on policy in the context of the GOP primaries — and that foreshadows, by contrast, just how brutal the scrutiny of Trump on policy will be in the general election, once those limitations are removed.

Consider a few of the main attacks that Trump had to endure last night. When Trump vaguely promised to keep entitlements solvent and to cut “waste, fraud and abuse,” Marco Rubio made a spirited case against Trump’s budgetary hocus pocus, repeatedly saying the numbers “don’t add up.”

[AFreeBird]

His kids are already in place. Indeed, I think he waited for them to get grow up. Donald didn’t just wake up one morning and say: I think I’ll run for president.

This has been in the works for a long time. As for the latter? Don’t show the cards til it’s time. And he has already put policies in place.

[Elsie]

And Trump will find some weakness in Hilary and exploit it without mercy.

Some?

The DNC will...

...try to find some STRENGTH in Hilary and exploit it without mercy.

[Elsie]

And he can come across as very personable and the people who had presumed he was a boar from soundbites will likely mostly decide that was nonsense and feel he was unfairly mis-characterized and feel sympathetic.

The 'gift' of short attentions spans for Americans.

[papertyger]

Trump needs to let his kids run the business and get busy studying policy with advisers 18 hours a day. He is woefully lacking and will be torn up in the general.

Don't confuse the minutiae Trump will be condemned for with the philosophy he will be elected for.

[Elsie]

he was a boar

OINK!

[papertyger]

In the general, “fighting back” will only gain support for Hillary.

Yeah, because Americans just LOVE someone that'll take it up the poop chute....

Is there nothing too asinine for Trump detractors to throw out there?

[papertyger]

[not that those outside the Beltway are stupid, but that those inside the Beltway are terribly styu- pid and wrapped up in their own hypderconvoluted sense of superiority witness this Compost article].

Washington learned long ago the way to keep people from discovering you're a dumbass is to not let them know the details that prove you're a dumbass, then when they begin to suspect you're a dumbass you can throw them off by rightly claiming they're not aware of the details.

[papertyger]

What gets me is that Mister trump knows that this is going to happen, and what the result will be.

I wonder...if you can believe a billionaire is that stupid, what won't you believe.