Donald Trump is on the rise — and that’s very bad news for the GOP

[applegrove]

Donald Trump is on the rise — and that’s very bad news for the GOP

By Paul Waldman at the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/07/01/donald-trump-is-on-the-rise-and-thats-very-bad-news-for-the-gop/?hpid=z3

"SNIP....................


Donald Trump is surging. In a field that has grown to 16 Republican presidential candidates (once Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Ohio Gov. John Kasich make their candidacies official), Trump is now in second place pretty much wherever you look. A new Quinnipiac poll of Iowa voters shows him tied for second with Ben Carson; they each have 10 percent to Walker’s 18. The latest CNN/WMUR poll in New Hampshire also puts Trump in second, with 11 percent, behind only Jeb Bush at 16 percent. And in the Huffington Post Pollster average of national polls, Trump comes in a mere 0.7 percent behind Bush.

While everyone has treated the Trump story as an amusing sideshow to the campaign (which it certainly is), there’s a genuine danger for the GOP in his presence that goes beyond the simple fact that he makes the party look silly (which he certainly does). More than any other candidate, Trump is telling Latinos that the Republican Party doesn’t like them.

Now let’s be clear: It isn’t as though Trump is going to be a serious contender for the nomination. But he could also go significantly higher than he is now. Just think about what happened in 2012, when one ridiculous candidate after another shot to the front of the Republican primary race. At one point, Rick Perry was in the lead with 32 percent support. Herman Cain once led with 26 percent. Newt Gingrich topped the field with 35 percent. Rick Santorum was No. 1 with 34 percent. The 2016 race may or may not be that volatile, but it will certainly have some ups and downs, as one candidate or another will stumble and another will rise. So it’s not inconceivable that at some point, for a moment anyway, Trump might actually be ahead in the polls.

When the primaries are over, repairing relations with Latinos will be one of the central challenges the Republican nominee faces. It’s one that both John McCain and Mitt Romney failed to accomplish — McCain lost among Latinos by a margin of 36 points, while Romney trailed by 44. And every time Trump opens his mouth, he makes that task more difficult.



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[arcane1]

1. It's also bad news for "Idiocracy's" struggle to remain fiction n/t

[Marie Marie]

2. Delightful...

for the Dems.

[Hoyt]

3. He'll attract the racist/bigot/greed/warmonger vote That's still pretty big in this country.

[Cha]

4. Oh yeah!

[Renew Deal]

5. Herman Cain

He's the flavor of the week. There is no way he can win. He won't even win a state.

[House of Roberts]

6. Did George Will really say that Donald Trump is a ‘one man Todd Aiken’?

How many Todd Aikens were there, at the peak?

[applegrove]

7. LOL!

[Vinca]

8. I'm marking the days off until that August 6 debate.