The GOP Establishment Goes Trump to Preserve Their Status Quo

[Draggingtree]

There Surgent: The GOP Establishment Goes Trump to Preserve Their Status Quo

By Erick Erickson | January 14, 2016, 11:50am

 

They do not think he can beat Hillary. In fact, the Republicans’ private polling suggests he would have a devastating effect on down ballot races at both the federal and state level. Having just seen the largest shift to the GOP since the late 1800’s, every single data point that they would normally read suggests Republican insiders should be doing everything imaginable to stop him.

 

But instead of stopping Trump, a growing number of Republican insiders are starting to think he would be a better nominee than Ted Cruz. The reason, however, is not what you are thinking.

 

Republican insiders in Washington, above all else, want to preserve their status quo. They want to make sure they do not lose power, access to power, privileges ordinary Americans do not have, etc. And they know with Donald Trump, one of two things will happen.

 

Either Trump will lose to Hillary Clinton, as their data objectively suggests, or Trump will win and can be negotiated with as he forms a coalition to govern. A coalition to govern would necessarily, in their minds, mean them.

[Valin]

2 things could result with DT winning the GOP nomination 1. The Democratic candidate wins 2. the Democratic candidate loses. IMO the latter is marginally better than the former. Marginally better in that with DT ya got a shot at the right thing being done.

[Valin]

Is the establishment “rushing to support ” Trump?
Paul Mirengoff
January 21, 2016


Ted Cruz is campaigning on the idea that the “establishment” is uniting behind GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. He told reporters in New Hampshire:

We’re seeing something remarkable happening in this Republican primary. Right now, the Washington establishment is abandoning Marco Rubio, they’ve made the assessment that Marco can’t win this race, and the Washington establishment is rushing over to support Donald Trump. We’re seeing that happen every day, and Mr. Trump is welcoming that support.

The great thing about railing against the “Washington establishment” is that you never have to identify whom you mean. Thus, you can say pretty much whatever you want about it without fear of being proven wrong.

(Snip)

Who better embodies the establishment than the folks who gather in Davos for the World Economic Forum? This year’s participants include Eric Cantor, the former Republican House Majority Leader and now vice chairman of Moelis & Company. Cantor’s defeat in the Republican primary last year was widely viewed as a stunning repudiation of the establishment (albeit a repudiation by a relatively small number of voters).

How does the Davos gathering view the rise of Donald Trump? With dismay. Bloomberg Business reports:

(Snip)

If one takes what Trump says seriously, though, the establishment has every reason to oppose him, even if doing so entails supporting Cruz (which, as I argue below, is not the case yet). Trump is running as a populist. The establishment has more to fear from populism than Cruz’s Reagan-style conservatism. Kenneth Jacobs, chairman and chief executive of the international investment bank Lazard, warns:

The history of populism in democracy is not great, and it’s not self-correcting in a lot of cases. You only have to look to Europe between the two wars and to a number of the Latin American countries prewar and postwar to see that.

The establishment has always feared no one more the “man on a white horse.” They fear him now, even if he’s actually a fat-cat in a stretch limo.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Is the establishment “rushing to support ” Trump?

Paul Mirengoff

January 21, 2016

 

 

 

The establishment has always feared no one more the “man on a white horse.” They fear him now, even if he’s actually a fat-cat in a stretch limo.

 

(Snip)

 

 

 

UPDATE: Chuck Todd, in an article called The GOP establishment’s risky bet on Trump,” cites Bob Dole’s statement that, if forced to choose between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, he’d pick Trump. But Dole’s statement supports neither Cruz’s claim nor Todd’s headline. Dole didn’t say he’s supporting Trump; only that he prefers Trump to Cruz.

 

Todd also relies on Jonathan Chait (yeah, that guy) for the proposition that “other parts of the GOP establishment that have warmed up to Trump — including the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page and Rupert Murdoch.” But the quote from the Journal that Chait points to says only that “Mr. Trump is a better politician than we ever imagined, and he is becoming a better candidate.” That’s obvious. It doesn’t signal a “warming up” to Trump, much less support. I agree with the Journal’s observation, and I’m certainly not warming to Trump. I much prefer Cruz and nearly everyone else in the field.

 

As for Murdoch, Chait says he’s gone from calling Trump an embarrassment to praising his crossover appeal. Murdoch cited Trump’s appeal in a tweet criticizing Cruz for betting that white conservatives and evangelicals can carry him to victory. So Murdoch may well favor Trump over Cruz. But again, this is not the same thing as supporting Trump for the nomination.

[Oceander]

 

 

Todd also relies on Jonathan Chait (yeah, that guy) for the proposition that “other parts of the GOP establishment that have warmed up to Trump — including the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page and Rupert Murdoch.” But the quote from the Journal that Chait points to says only that “Mr. Trump is a better politician than we ever imagined, and he is becoming a better candidate.” That’s obvious. It doesn’t signal a “warming up” to Trump, much less support. I agree with the Journal’s observation, and I’m certainly not warming to Trump. I much prefer Cruz and nearly everyone else in the field.

 

I read the WSJ editorials and op-eds each morning and they haven't warmed up to Trump. All they've done is acknowledge his (obvious) sticking power. Acknowledging that a demagogue is a demagogue is not the same thing as "warming up to" that demagogue.