I don’t have much good to say about the Washington Post, but I think they did something right for a change when they hired Robert Costa. He seems to have good sources on the right side of the aisle and a pretty good sense of the national political situation. Here’s what he and Philip Rucker are saying about the current mindset of the Republican establishment:
Though flummoxed by Trump’s staying power and aghast at the coarse tone he has brought to the race, party elites said they have no plan to take him down. Donors feel powerless. Republican officials have little leverage. Candidates are skittish. Super PAC operatives say attack ads against him could backfire. And everyone agrees that the Trump factor in this chaotic multi-candidate field is so unpredictable that any move carries dangerous risks.
This kind of stuff always amazes me. I mean, are we going to blame Donald Trump (and only Donald Trump) for the coarse tone of Republican political debate? Aren’t the risks to the party elite surrounding a Ted Cruz or Rand Paul or Ben Carson or Mike Huckabee nomination close to or equal to the risks of a Trump nomination?
I suppose that there are different types of things to worry about depending on what interests you are trying to protect, but I don’t see how Trump would do worse in a general election than Bobby Jindal or Rick Santorum. If you are first and foremost hoping to actually win the election, none of the candidates look very strong. The only ones that can probably be trusted not to completely ruin the Republican brand are Jeb, Kasich, Pataki, Gilmore,and Fiorina. I guess some might add Marco Rubio to that mix, but I think they’re not familiar enough with the skeletons that follow Rubio around like an invisible army of the undead.
As for Scott Walker, he strikes me as Fool’s Gold.
So, taking down Trump is only a small part of the problem. You need to take Trump down and at the same time prevent almost any of the other eleventy billion candidates from taking his place. And then you need to figure out how to make Jeb or Kasich more than sitting ducks.
Oh, I forgot to mention Chris Christie.
Imagine that.
