From the time when I wrote to the Washington Post in December that Trump now owned the soul of the Republican Party, I was rooting for him to be nominated, because any other candidate would have been more difficult for Hillary Clinton to defeat in November.
Once the Republican Convention drew near and anti-Trump movements appeared, I was thinking what would I do if I were a Republican leader who wanted to get rid of Donald Trump.
My first thought was that if he was booted once he had enough votes to win the nomination, it would result in considerable violence on the part of his staunchest supporters most of whom have guns and are of a violent bent. That would be a very undesirable result, stain the party reputation and divide it further.
Thus, getting rid of Trump was not a desirable option, during or after the convention. Like most party leaders, I would have known that he was very likely to lose the general election, taking the Senate majority down with him.
So, what to do? Once down in the polls, as he is now, he is not going to quit his candidacy on his own. Trailing in polls is to him a temporary obstacle that, in the foolish belief of his invincibility, will disappear later. So forget Rule 9.
The only way that the Republican Party (having painted itself into a corner it cannot come out of without considerable damage) can limit the November damage and repair itself after November is to let Trump stay in the race and hope that he will lose in a landslide. That would not only get rid of Trump’s influence within the party, it would severely damage the clout of the tea party in the House caucuses.
Having lined up behind the win-win-win candidate who proved in the general election to be a lose-lose-lose candidate would quiet their voice in the House and make the speaker’s work a lot easier.
The smart party approach is to write off the White House and the Senate in this election, concentrate their money and their efforts in holding the House majority, and begin to repair the party with an eye on the next election. This election is over before the voting has even begun.
