Sidelining Trump
We cannot tell if it is the beginning of Donald Trump’s end or the end of his free pass to say whatever he pleases. In either case, the realestate egomaniac had a rough time last week.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal delivered a stemwinder denouncing Trump’s character defects (“He’s a narcissist. He’s an egomaniac. The only thing he believes in is himself. The reality is that I want to say what everybody is thinking about Donald Trump but afraid to say”) on the same day Trump was taking heat for criticizing Carly Fiorina’s appearance. (“Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president. I mean, she’s a woman, and I’m not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?”) He insisted Thursday, “I’m not talking about looks. I’m talking about persona.” But that makes no sense, obviously. He simply was caught being obnoxious and did not have the decency to apologize. Jeb Bush and numerous conservative voices dinged Trump for insulting her as well as Ben Carson.
Then, to top it off, Trumpreversed himself on Syrian refugees, apparently remembering after a brief lapse that his cult is based onxenophobia. Hepreviously expressed empathy for the refugees, victims in a war President Obamaallowed to fester. Then he decided we should do no such thing. National ReviewInstitute’s Ian Tuttle writes that “it’s yet another reminder that Trump really does not have policies; he has assertions. Hesquirts out declarative sentences, because he’s The Strong Guy Who Takes a Stand, but
whether he declares one way or another is largely a matter of chance. Since he tends to reach positions by a process of guessandcheck, I assume this second statement is the one Trump will stick with. But is it what he actually thinks?”
It is wrong to say these controversies only help Trump. To the contrary, it is becoming politically unacceptable outside the Trump cult to tolerate his piggish behavior and insults. Serious conservatives can no longer pretend he is a serious candidate. Forget the meaningless national polls, many of which capture voters who won’t come near a caucus or a primary voting booth. Look to the states where his margins are shrinking.
Now think of the regular caucusgoer in Iowa, a pillar of her community. Is she going to try persuading her neighbor whose come out on a freezing Tuesday night that Trump is the best candidate? I imagine she and many others would be embarrassed to do so. And that is the point: Making Trump a pariah in polite company — where the majority of Republicans still reside — limits his ability to win contests, especially when the field shrinks from 17 to, say, four or five.
Sensible Republicans should keep up the drumbeat, whether directly in the debate or in response to his campaign trail pronouncements. Trump is revealing he is either unable to control himself (poor impulse control is not a quality one wants in a commander in chief) or devoid of decency and relevant knowledge. Trimming down his band of followers to the hardest of the hard core, the angriest in the party (and not necessarily primary voters) will rob him of support he will need to prevail over the long haul. That’s the theory, at any rate.