All Chairman Reince Priebus and the Republican National Committee’s men couldn’t take down 69-year-real-estate tycoon Donald Trump. Rolling to GOP victories March 8 in Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii, the RNC’s Trump take-down strategy failed. No matter how many millions in ad-buys, no matter how many denunciations by 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney and other Party bosses, Trump’s freight train keeps barreling down the tracks. When Trump won Louisiana and Kentucky Saturday, March 5, the GOP establishment said the anti-Trump strategy was working. When Cruz bagged Maine and Kansas, Priebus prayed Trump was on his way out. GOP officials know that Cruz failed to protect his Southern, bible-belt strategy, ceding most of the South to Trump. Winning Maine and Kansas offered no real hope for Cruz heading into less friendly territory March 15 and beyond.
After winning Super Tuesday 2, Trump called for Party unity, targeting his remarks to Priebus, so far unwilling to accept the inevitable, especially if Trump wins Florida March 15. GOP insiders continue to talk about a “contested” or “brokered” convention where Party-insiders pick the nominee, disenfranchising millions of GOP primary voters. Pushing that agenda, Romney and Kasich expressed intrigue at the prospect of a brokered convention, denying Trump the nomination. Whatever voter revolt today propels Trump toward the nomination, an outright mutiny would occur if Party officials try to steal the will of voters. When Florida rolls around March 15, the GOP’s nonsense about a brokered convention should end. If Trump upends Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), it’s game over for the GOP. Trump will have dominated the GOP primaries, seeking a merciful end.
Talk has already started in the U.S. Senate that they could get behind a Trump nomination. Asking Romney, the last failed GOP nominee, to denounce Trump, Priebus rolled the dice hoping to stop Trump’s momentum on Super Tuesday. By all accounts, Romney’s attacks backfired, causing more independents and Republicans to back Trump. What Priebus and the RNC haven’t faced is that Trump’s success directly correlates with horrendous GOP Congressional approval ratings. Hovering at 11%, voters reject the partisan gridlock and failure of Congress to get anything done. GOP voters don’t want another partisan insider for president. They’re looking to fix Washington’s political paralysis, hoping an outsider like Trump gets something done. Voter anger stems directly from GOP’s Congressional failure, the inability to put ideology and partisan squabbles aside to get something done.
When Trump began sweeping through the GOP primaries, GOP insiders bristled because he’s not a right wing ideologue. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) continues to sell his brand of right wing ideology, something voters don’t want in 2016. Claiming he’s the only true conservative left in the GOP primaries, Cruz asks voters to get behind his campaign. Watching Cruz filibuster Obamacare Sept. 25, 2913 or help shut down the government Oct 1-16, 2013 because of the debt ceiling, voters know he’d default the U.S. government. Trump offers what he calls “common sense” conservatism, citing examples of bad U.S. trade deals hurting the U.S. economy. Cruz wants to abolish the IRS and implement a flat tax, something too radical for mainstream voters. Cruz tells voters that only a true conservative can beat Democratic front-runner and expected nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Most polling shows Trump with the best chance to get the same coalition that propelled President Ronald Reagan to the White House in 1980. Record numbers of independents and Democrats have crossed over to vote in Republican primaries so far. “I am a uniter,” said Trump, asking the GOP to get behind his candidacy. Trump tried to reassure the GOP that he has no intent to changing the Party’s philosophy, only getting back to the White House next November. Trump’s “common sense” conservatism shows the kind of broad appeal that attracts independents and cross over Democrats. Unlike Cruz and Rubio, Trump isn’t selling the usual media-driven brand of conservative politics. Some conservative diehards don’t like that Trump avoids slamming abortion or gay marriage. He’s not considered by Rubio and Cruz conservative enough to run for the GOP nomination.
Priebus blamed Romney’s 2012 failure on the fact he wasn’t conservative enough to win the presidency. Romney’s problems weren’t about his lack of conservatism but about his insensitive remarks about Obama’s supporters. Trump attracts more independent and crossover Democrats than Romney. Watching Romney, who received Trump’s endorsement in 2012, attack Trump violates every GOP principle preached by Reagan, especially about not attacking fellow Republicans. “The Democrats can’t beat us,” said Trump. “The only way they’re going to beat us is if we keep fighting so stupidly,” asking his Party to join his campaign. If Trump wins Florida March 15, he will have beaten back whatever resistance surrounds his candidacy. GOP establishment insiders are beginning to see the futility of resisting Trump’s national movement, gaining more steam every day.
