The Trump-related cognitive dissonance among Republicans has been something to behold. Still, many establishment Republicans seem unable to accept what’s really happening. His campaign began with that droll descent down the escalator at Trump Tower, and we all laughed. It was a joke – it had to be. But then Trump started winning. And he won some more. And he starting leading in all the polls. And then the whole sordid spectacle became all-too-real.
Before Trump clinched the nomination in Indiana, there was a lot of chatter from Republicans about staging a coup at the convention. Trump was likely to have secured the most pledged delegates, but the hope was that they could prevent him from crossing the threshold before the convention.
Hope, as Thucydides famously said, is the prop of the desperate. Despite their best efforts, the Republican establishment couldn’t stop the Trump juggernaut. Not only did he win, but he set turnout records in several states. However deranged, Republican primary voters got the candidate they wanted. Consequently, GOP leaders began to fall into line. After such a resounding victory, talk of a brokered convention seemed far-fetched.
But after Trump’s racist attacks on Mexican-American U.S. District Judge Gonazalo Curiel, Republicans are re-exploring their possibilities. According to a NBC News report, Republican operatives are scrambling for some last-ditch solution to the waking nightmare before them.
“Everything’s got to be on the table,” said Bob Vander Plaats, who co-chaired Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign, including tinkering with the rules in order to unbind delegates on the convention floor. Influential conservative talk radio host, Hugh Hewitt, joined the chorus this week, claiming that “the party ought to change the nominee – because we’re going to get killed with this nominee.” Former national political adviser for Rand Paul’s campaign, A.J. Spiker, has explicitly asked delegates to “vote their conscious” and “stop that man.” “I’d rather have the challenge of having to raise some money than having to pick up all the pieces that Donald Trump has smashed,” Spiker added.
