[Originally posted to the EC Reporter on February 22, 2016]
After two back-to-back primary wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina, the possibility of Donald Trump receiving the Republican nomination in the 2016 Presidential Election is becoming more of a reality. The GOP should be terrified.
Henry Barbour, a Republican National Committee member from Mississippi, issued a warning to Republicans who are waiting idly by to see how the primaries turn out. He predicted that Trump’s nomination would mean a loss in the presidential race and a threat to the party’s hold on the Senate.
“After Trump has won in New Hampshire and South Carolina, Republicans are crazy and about to blow the White House if we don’t rally to stop him,” Mr. Barbour said. “It’s certainly time that we have to consolidate the race.”
It is hard to believe that Trump prevailed in South Carolina after a week of set backs and downright horrific comments. In the days before the primary, Trump was booed during a Republican debate and publicly criticized by Pope Francis. He also praised Saddam Hussein because he “killed terrorists“ and declared that he feels torture “works”.
Statements like these have not been uncommon during Trump’s campaign. A favorite remark of anti-Trump campaigners, and one that certainly calls into question Trump’s sanity, is his comment from an Iowa campaign rally earlier this month about his ability to murder someone and still be liked. “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” he said.
What’s baffling is that there might be a shred of truth behind that statement. Many Americans seem to be blindly following this man who, frankly, talks more about himself and his reputation than about what he can truly do for the country. “People are not going to die on the streets of any city or of any place if I’m president,” Trump has said. “And every time I say it, I get standing ovations from Republicans. … We have to take care of people.” That sounds great, but what does Trump actually intend to do to prevent people from dying on the streets? And how is he going to take care of them? These are the questions the GOP should be asking as they stand by, barely doing a thing to stop him.
Luckily, someone is actually attempting to do something. Marlene Ricketts, wife of billionaire T.D. Ameritrade founder J. Joe Rickets, has contributed money to a political action committee geared toward tearing down trump. New campaign-finance reports show that she has invested $3 million into Our Principles PAC, a super PAC that targeted Trump with negative ads, voter guides, and mailers before the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries.
The GOP should be taking note. If they want to have any chance at minimizing Trump’s ability to take the nomination, they have to develop a stronger strategy. As Stuart Stevens, top political strategist to Mitt Romney in 2012, said, “No one is running a modern, focused, coordinated campaign against the front-runner as if they want to win.”
This needs to change or the country might be stuck with a president who likes the word “I” more than he likes America.
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