What the GOP Must Do to Stop Trump
Following Donald Trump’s atrocious week at the polls, losing the Republican nomination has become more of a reality for him. Establishment strategists are jumping up at the idea that their party might not be headed off a cliff after all. However, just because Trump may not reach the delegate count necessary for an outright victory, necessitating a brokered convention, does not mean that he will not win. Underestimating Trump was what allowed him to get so far in the primary process to begin with. Several months ago the idea of a Trump presidency was ludicrous and unimaginable at best. Here we are now with Trump as the new face of the GOP. Trump is a beast that the Republican party created. To defeat him is not as easy as a couple bad days at the polls.
The voter base that has been carrying Trump consists largely white, middle-aged, working-class men. These people are disillusioned by the Washington machine and the establishment as a result of years of partisan inactivity and economic stagnation. Trump is their dream candidate: strong, brash, vaguely racist and most importantly, not a politician. Those people will not jump ship to Ted Cruz or whatever candidate the establishment puts up, if any in the event of a brokered convention, so easily. Those politicians represent to them what the problem with Washington is. They are purposefully voting for someone other than a politician. After Trump has so clearly managed to garner the support of a great number of the Republican electorate despite establishment opposition, if the party pulls off any stunt to defeat Trump outside of the polls, the party risks losing said electorate to a third party. This would truly spell the end of the Republican party as the establishment would find themselves with nowhere near enough votes to sustain a candidate.
Trump will not get less votes than Cruz at this point unless Cruz manages to pull some very heavy landslides. This doesn’t mean that Trump will win the primary, but this does open the possibility of a brokered convention. Establishment candidates have been dreaming of a brokered convention for months now, thinking it would be the perfect solution to the death of their party. This would be wrong. As I said earlier, the Trump movement would never accept their party overriding the wishes of the majority as disastrous as they may be. That would show them once and for all that the political system does not necessarily work for the people. Although that may be true, the GOP still relies on ordinary voters to win regular elections. The Republican party needs the Trump voter base and cannot risk losing them, lest a third party emerge. Rather than alienate them in an attempt to prevent what has already happened as a result of their own actions, the Republican party must face the monster they have created.
Even if the primary isn’t over yet, the Republican party must prepare for and anticipate the eventual nomination of Trump. His rise was facilitated by its encouragement of nativist policy and Washington’s ineffectiveness. He has been so successful due to the Republican party’s negligence in stamping him down. Even if he ultimately loses the nomination, the voters who support him and the movement he has created will not disappear. The landscape of the Republican party has shifted irreparably, and the establishment must face the consequences of its actions. The angry voters that support Trump are not going anywhere, and have already changed the political landscape across the nation for good. Trump would make a horrible president, but the survival of the Republican party depends on his nomination at this point.