Abortion comments the beginning of the end for Trump?

The good news was that some pro-life and pro-choice groups had found common ground.

The bad news was that it took Donald Trump threatening to prosecute women for getting abortions.

That position, expressed to Chris Matthews in last week’s MSNBC town hall, was reversed within hours. Someone in Trump’s campaign (probably not his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski) must have pointed out to him that even the farthest right of the right wing hasn’t gone as far as he did in calling for penalizing women: Not Ted Cruz, not Mike Huckabee, not even Rick Santorum. They’ve limited themselves to advocating prosecution for abortion providers.

But Trump, who apparently never gave the matter much thought after switching from declaring himself pro-choice years ago, was prepared to go all the way. Even 10 years in prison? In response to Matthews’ question, Trump said he didn’t know. But he didn’t rule it out.

Writing about Trump used to be fun because of his penchant for outlandishness: You never knew where or how far he’d go next. But it’s starting to be revolting in the same way as writing about battery or rape. Because these outlandish positions are always at the expense of vulnerable people—Muslims, immigrants, minorities, women. And because he’s on track to win the Republican Party’s nomination for president. He’s not some no-name, third-party candidate without a prayer. This is real.

That’s why, when his detractors ask me why the media gives him so much attention, I ask them how we could not report on him. Even Trump’s supporters complain about the press coverage he gets. After his campaign manager was charged with simple battery against reporter Michelle Fields, Rush Limbaugh opined on his show that the media, particularly CNN, were out to get Trump’s campaign by covering the incident with video.

Maybe a better question than why we report on Trump is why his legions of male supporters hang with him in spite of every new insult or outrageous proposal he makes. Not women, though. A stunning 70 percent of women don’t view him favorably, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. With men, he has an unfavorability rating of 59 percent.

Contrast the slack that men cut Trump with the speed with which they backed away from John McCain after his running mate, Sarah Palin, started talking to Katie Couric. Let’s face it, neither Trump nor Palin has shown a penchant for deep thinking or a sophisticated knowledge of the world and its problems. Yet Trump’s supporters see that knee-jerk, shoot-from-the-hip style as an asset, while McCain’s supporters saw it as evidence the nominee for vice president was under-qualified.

Because he chose Palin, McCain’s judgment was questioned. But Trump doesn’t seem to have lost any supporters for choosing, as the person to run his campaign, a man (Lewandowski) with a penchant for crass behavior, including shoving and allegedly propositioning female reporters. Nor for Trump’s own compendium of slurs, slights and provocations, including ridiculing the appearance of Cruz’s wife and questioning McCain’s war heroism because he was captured. Or for refusing to admit to being wrong or apologize for anything, including the recent incident for which Lewandowski is charged. The latter is alleged to have grabbed reporter Fields’ arm and pulled her away when she tried to ask Trump a question, leaving bruises.

Florida police have charged Lewandowski with simple battery in connection with the incident. Before the security footage showing the incident surfaced, Lewandowski tweeted at Fields that she was “totally delusional,” and “I never touched you.” But even after Lewandowski was shown grabbing her, Trump dug in his heels and claimed it was Fields who changed her story about Lewandowski.

I’m no fan of Palin’s, but ask yourself why she became a national joke, while Trump seems to become more of a national hero to his supporters with every crude, bigoted, uninformed thing he says. By his own admission, he has no policy advisers and relies upon himself for his positions. And he’s at the top of the ticket.

Could it be because he’s speaking to every guy who’s mad at things he can’t control? Mad at women and immigrants for getting jobs he might have wanted? Mad at an ex for getting child custody and then child support? Mad at the government for thinking that a mother of young children deserves public assistance to feed them? Mad that the president is a black man with an African father, and that Muslim people are still allowed to live here after the attacks of Sept. 11? And mad that to voice objections is considered politically incorrect?

“I got your back, Bro,” they imagine Trump telling them. “We’ll stand up to the politically correct and tell it like it is.”

So, will Trump’s stated willingness to entertain the idea of 10 years in prison for a woman getting an abortion be the last straw for any of his followers? Will they stand by their sisters, wives, mothers and daughters in deploring these frightening efforts to scapegoat and control women? Or will the men continue to stand by their man?