August 7, 2015
(CNN)It was the most dramatic opening to a presidential debate in recent memory—and Donald Trump stole the show before he'd even said a word.
Perched comfortably at the top of the polls and lapping his closest rivals by double digits, Trump was expected to do well at the first GOP presidential debate of the 2016 season on Thursday night.
That's not what it looked like to me. Talking with insiders, which I do a lot, they expected Trump to disappear after creating a flash of publicity. If you look at FR from that date, the people here liked Trump, but they also liked Cruz, Carson, Walker, and others. The main praise for Trump was as a "point man" who brought immigration into the discussion rather than as the candidate people wanted to see win. Read that day on FR. There is praise for Trump, but the tone does not show confidence that he will lead the race as he has done.
The establishment concern last August was Cruz, because they saw his huge state-by-state organization. As recently as last month, they were still maneuvering so that Cruz would not be the last man standing against Trump when Trump finally flamed out.
[Their panic reeks of guilt.]
Colorado GOP Lied About #NeverTrump Tweet – The Account Was Not Hacked
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3420112/posts
The Republican party said this tweet saying the account was hacked. But that is a lie. The party deleted the tweet only three minutes after it was posted – meaning they still had control of the account. It was not hacked – it was a Republican party insider.