– ‘Longer slog ahead’ –
His Republican rivals are not holding back.
Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard boss who performed well in the first debate and catapulted from the back of the pack to fifth place with 10-percent support in the PPP poll, blasted Trump’s “completely inappropriate and offensive comments” about Kelly.
Senator Rand Paul warned Tea Party conservatives Monday against supporting Trump, declaring he simply “isn’t suited to lead the country.”
Paul cited the real estate mogul’s previous support for Democrats, including the Clintons, and for liberal causes like abortion rights and universal health care.
“Are conservatives really willing to gamble about what Donald Trump really believes in?” Paul wrote in the Independent Journal Review.
Despite the blowback, McClung anticipated “a longer slog ahead” and that a Trump campaign could last until early 2016 and Iowa, which holds the first primary vote.
“That’s when the Trump candidacy ends,” he predicted.
Brad Marston, another Republican strategist, said Trump does not automatically spell disaster for the party, but he doubts the billionaire will translate his early lead into a serious candidacy.
“He would have to come out with well-thought-out, realistic policy prescriptions to back up his bombast, and I don’t think he’s inclined to do that,” he said.
And Trump’s post-debate statements “disqualify him for serious consideration as our nominee,” Marston added, especially given how Mitt Romney lost the women’s vote by 12 points to President Barack Obama in 2012.
Even if Republicans jettison Trump, he could still throw a wrench in the spokes by running as an independent, something he declined to rule out during the debate.
“That could be very scary” for Republicans, Duke University associate professor Mac McCorkle told AFP.
“Even if he wears out and he’s not much of a third party threat, he may well dictate the way the campaign narratives run, and that could be very beneficial to Hillary Clinton,” he added.
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