The Trump resignation
by digby
I tend to think the establishment will eventually hold their noses and accept Ted Cruz as their leaders, but others disagree. Chris Hayes, I gather, is of the opposite opinion and he's a lot more connected than I am so I could be wrong.
I think the GOP establishment going with Trump would signal that they no longer exist basically. Trump is not a genuine Republican. He's not even a genuine political figure. Perhaps they think they could control him better than Cruz, that he would be amenable to their expert guidance in ways that Cruz would not. I think that's completely insane. Because Trump is a narcissistic lunatic who will not be controlled by anyone.
It is interesting if they truly believe that Cruz's standard doctrinaire right wing agenda is more threatening to them than Donald Trump's xenophobic nationalism though.
The hard core right does not like any of this, by the way:
Here's Mark Levin this morning:
Friendly advice, Donald, and I do mean friendly...
MARK LEVIN·SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2016
Either cut the crap - your accusations this morning that Cruz is Canadian, a criminal, owned by big banks, etc. (see link below) - or you will lose lots and lots of conservatives. Save the liberal New York City bully tactics for the New York City liberals. Put down your computer keyboard for a few hours, think before you tweet, and collect yourself. You're not politically invincible, regardless of the polls and media. I am already hearing more and more people getting fed up with the low road you're taking against Cruz, which has obviously intensified this morning. You don't need to attack his honor or attempt to smear his reputation. You can leave that to Mitch McConnell and the New York Times. Engage on real and substantive issues that matter to the country. Like I said, my friendly advice.
This isn't some transactional thing to these conservative movement Tea Party evangelical types. Cruz is the living embodiment of their ideology. And ideology does matter to those folks. Sure, they enjoy Trump's hardcore, politically incorrect style and the fact that he hates the right people. But they do have some principles.
By the way, Independents and Democrats really don't like Trump, so the establishment had better hope that Trump gets every single Republican out and inspires many new people to vote that wouldn't have otherwise done it.
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