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The Screaming Moderate

The Donald not going softly into that good.. 

12/3/2015

1 Comment

 
 I haven’t posted for a while and, in that time, Donald Trump is still at the top of the GOP polls.

He’s surprised the pundits (and me) with his staying power but he still is in a crowded field with most of the crowd within the margin of error.  He still has the same basic amount of support. The race, similar to all races, has its own rhythms but, clearly, Trump is not going away on his own. There have been cries for the official party structure to refuse him the nomination or to walk away from him if he wins it, but that isn’t happening. If he wins, he wins. It would mean the rank and file nominated him and the party cannot walk away from that.

Some have said the party should become, in effect,  a third party and go with, say, a Jeb Bush as the nominee, do as little as possible for Trump, and leave it to Jeb to win. With Trump likely getting the same share of the party support he has, that’s unlikely and more likely it opens the door even more widely for a Democratic (Hillary) win. Just ask Jeb’s dad what Perot did for him in ’92.  A third party win is not destined for success.

I still do not believe he will be the nominee. He may win early, but he won't win often. Still, seems to me there is an opportunity for some mainstream candidate to take a step forward here..make a name for himself and come out of this process not as a weak nominee but a strong leader.

 It hasn’t worked much so far but I have not seen an opposing candidate really take on Trump because, apparently, they fear alienating his supporters. They’ve tested him. They’ve jabbed at him. But they back away quickly.  My view: alienate away. Those folks are not voting for Jeb or Kasich or Christie or any other mainstream-like Republican. Walk away and go after the rest of the party. Walk away and win the nomination with a clear head and honest heart. If you do, you likely win the nomination. If you don't Trump maybe wins the nomination and blows up the party – worse things in my mind can happen, but that’s another subject for another day.

In other words, someone has to become The Other GOP Candidate in the race. Someone for the rest of the party to rally around. Maybe, in my dreams of course, the other candidates decide who is best positioned to win, and get behind him (yes, him  ... Carly Fiorina is not prepared to be president) and take one not just for the Gipper, but for history and the sake of the party. And the country. Nominating Donald Trump does so much harm on so many levels – the party will take a drubbing on the under ticket, the party’s reputation takes possibly an irreparable hit, and the country suffers. Not in that order.

I have been under the thinking that Trump can’t win New Hampshire and his nomination then collapses. Well the "experts" now are saying he could win New Hampshire.  Of course, these same experts who said he was a flash in the pan. The polls continuously show that whenever he makes a “mistake” (women, Hispanics, physically challenged, policy, whatever) he gains in the polls. No ‘mistake’ is going to take him down.

It will take a legitimate opponent. Someone with conviction. Someone with guts. Someone with brains.

And someone with those qualities would make a good president.


1 Comment
Bob Damia
12/3/2015 11:43:25 am

Well...it seems this Trump campaign continues to defy logic but it cannot and will not, defy gravity...we all know, "what goes up must come down'...so, here's the thing...as long as the public continues to distrust Washington to the point of anger, Trump will poll well...That DOES NOT mean he'll garner the nomination. You see, despite the polls The Donald still only is the preferred candidate of about 32% (1/3rd) of Republican voters and that's being kind. The LA Times reported that Republican strategist Frank Luntz stated that Donald's supporters believe that what Trump is saying is not "wrong" in any way, but is absolutely correct, but he goes on to describe those supporters as GOP "working class underachievers" and the "lowest common denominator" of the party...whether that's true or not, I believe, the present support he's receiving is NOT coming from enough of the the voters that will take him to the promised land. His opponents seem to have a fear of calling him on his rhetoric but that may be because the field is still so large and they are waiting for the dust to settle before making any moves that could possibly alienate some, many or all of his present supporters...whomever ends up the nominee (I agree, it won't be Trump) will need all the support they can get from within the GOP...so alienating them now could prove disastrous...Ted Cruz or (to a lesser possibility) Rubio will in all probabilityy become the nominee...regardless, either one will find it very difficult to beat Hillary Clinton. As Dennis Miller says..."Just an opinion, I could be wrong."

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    B. Jay Cooper

    B. Jay is a former deputy White House press secretary to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He also headed the communications offices at the Republican National Committee, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Yale University. He is a former reporter and is the retired deputy managing director of APCO Worldwide's Washington, D.C., office.
    He is the father of three daughters and grandfather of five boys and one girl. He lives in Marion, Mass.

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