jimnyc
02-11-2016, 12:25 PM
The more the fighting by the others, the better it is for Trump. The longer and the more stay in, the better it is for Trump.
-----
Republican elites are 0-for-2 in presidential nominating contests this year, a rare and panic-inducing outcome for the party's leadership. Yet their preferred candidates continue to fight each other, and have begun the march to the next battlefield in South Carolina without a plan to stop Donald Trump.
Not only did the billionaire's 20-point blowout in the New Hampshire primary fail to cull the field enough to present a clear mainstream alternative, the three remaining establishment candidates—U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Ohio Governor John Kasich and Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor—spent Wednesday going after one another, as they have throughout the nomination fight.
“Enormous pressure is on the establishment wing to consolidate around one candidate soon or else it will hand the Republican nomination over to Trump,” said Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist and former senior congressional aide.
They're running out of time. With plenty of campaign cash to spare, Trump is pushing the kind of nationalistic message on immigration and foreign policy that resonates in South Carolina, a state that flew the Confederate flag on its capitol grounds until last year. The primaries beyond are just as southern and just as friendly to Trump's message. And he remains an extremely difficult candidate to beat in a war of words and media attention.
“As long as there's five or six people running, I think Donald benefits from that, no doubt about it,” Rubio said Wednesday on CNN.
The anxiety has grown more palpable as Trump has shattered predictions that his crowds and poll numbers wouldn't translate at the ballot box.
“Donald Trump has proven he can turn his rally-goers into voters, and now it’s time for his challengers to prove they’re capable of taking the steering wheel away from him,” said Rory Cooper, a Republican operative and former House leadership aide.
-----
With Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina quitting the race on Wednesday, Bush, Rubio, and Kasich are competing to become the establishment favorite to take on Trump ahead of the Feb. 20 primary South Carolina.
“If those three get into a circular firing squad, the one who benefits is Trump,” said David Winston, a Republican consultant who worked on Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential campaign.
Bush attacked Kasich as a “one-state” candidate who has “nothing going on down here” in South Carolina. He also mocked Rubio's “coronation after a third place finish [in Iowa]—looks like they canceled it.”
On CNN, Rubio declared that “Jeb has no foreign policy experience—none.” Earlier, Rubio told reporters that he's “the only one running in this race who can quickly unite the Republican Party.”
Kasich said on CNN that he's “going to have to respond to some of this stuff” coming from Bush, acknowledging that his successful strategy to steer clear of the mud in New Hampshire may not work going forward.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-02-11/republican-elites-land-in-south-carolina-with-no-plan-to-stop-trump
-----
Republican elites are 0-for-2 in presidential nominating contests this year, a rare and panic-inducing outcome for the party's leadership. Yet their preferred candidates continue to fight each other, and have begun the march to the next battlefield in South Carolina without a plan to stop Donald Trump.
Not only did the billionaire's 20-point blowout in the New Hampshire primary fail to cull the field enough to present a clear mainstream alternative, the three remaining establishment candidates—U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Ohio Governor John Kasich and Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor—spent Wednesday going after one another, as they have throughout the nomination fight.
“Enormous pressure is on the establishment wing to consolidate around one candidate soon or else it will hand the Republican nomination over to Trump,” said Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist and former senior congressional aide.
They're running out of time. With plenty of campaign cash to spare, Trump is pushing the kind of nationalistic message on immigration and foreign policy that resonates in South Carolina, a state that flew the Confederate flag on its capitol grounds until last year. The primaries beyond are just as southern and just as friendly to Trump's message. And he remains an extremely difficult candidate to beat in a war of words and media attention.
“As long as there's five or six people running, I think Donald benefits from that, no doubt about it,” Rubio said Wednesday on CNN.
The anxiety has grown more palpable as Trump has shattered predictions that his crowds and poll numbers wouldn't translate at the ballot box.
“Donald Trump has proven he can turn his rally-goers into voters, and now it’s time for his challengers to prove they’re capable of taking the steering wheel away from him,” said Rory Cooper, a Republican operative and former House leadership aide.
-----
With Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina quitting the race on Wednesday, Bush, Rubio, and Kasich are competing to become the establishment favorite to take on Trump ahead of the Feb. 20 primary South Carolina.
“If those three get into a circular firing squad, the one who benefits is Trump,” said David Winston, a Republican consultant who worked on Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential campaign.
Bush attacked Kasich as a “one-state” candidate who has “nothing going on down here” in South Carolina. He also mocked Rubio's “coronation after a third place finish [in Iowa]—looks like they canceled it.”
On CNN, Rubio declared that “Jeb has no foreign policy experience—none.” Earlier, Rubio told reporters that he's “the only one running in this race who can quickly unite the Republican Party.”
Kasich said on CNN that he's “going to have to respond to some of this stuff” coming from Bush, acknowledging that his successful strategy to steer clear of the mud in New Hampshire may not work going forward.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-02-11/republican-elites-land-in-south-carolina-with-no-plan-to-stop-trump