I listened to a couple of Sunday morning talk shows today and heard something I didn’t think I’d ever hear.
From the mouths of a couple of Republican-friendly pundits I heard that the GOP might — just might — nominate Donald J. Trump as its next nominee for president of the United States.
National Review editor Rich Lowry said on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” that if Trump can survive in Iowa — where Dr. Ben Carson is now leading — and win New Hampshire and then South Carolina, there may be no stopping him.
Republican strategist Alex Castellanos said on “Meet the Press” that it’s quite possible, indeed, that Republicans could nominate Trump.
Much of the discussion this morning centered on how the Republican “establishment,” whatever that means, plans to deal with a Trump nomination should it come to pass.
Some of us out here have wondered from the very beginning of Trump’s candidacy how he would hold up. So help me, I’m utterly baffled by it. I’ve heard the punditry talk about the mood of the electorate and particularly the mood of the GOP “base.” They’re tired of “politics as usual” and the politicians who keep striving to maintain the status quo.
Thus, Trump, Carson and Carly Fiorina all have gained traction.
It’s the Trump phenomenon that is giving me heartburn.
TrumpĀ insults Hispanics. He denigrates a genuine war hero, John McCain. He makes hideous comments about a Fox News anchor spewing blood from “her whatever.” He says he’d be dating his daughter if she weren’t his daughter. He hurls personal insults at his GOP primary rivals.
And through it all, he remains the front runner.
There once was a time when a candidate’s utter disregard for any semblance of decorum and dignity would cause him to be laughed off the political stage.
Not this time.
Someone … please pass me the Tums.