Mitt
Romney’s uncharacteristically harsh attack on Donald Trump revealed
the extent of desperation felt by Republican leaders over the prospect
of a party take-over by Trump and his supporters. Republican leaders
are apoplectic. So enraged are they that they are willing to risk
a loss in November to ensure that Donald Trump is not the nominee.
In other words, they would prefer Hillary Clinton or another Democrat
to Donald Trump. Indeed, despite his conservative ideological purity,
Ted Cruz is loathed by the Republican leaders almost as much as Trump.
They find Marco Rubio their only comfortable choice, but Rubio is
so far behind that he cannot win. How then can Americans thwart the
anti-Democratic efforts of Romney and Republican leaders to prevent
a Trump nomination? The answer lies in an intelligent recognition
that Cruz, while popular among Republicans, has no appeal outside
of Republican circles and, so, is unlikely to win in a general election.
Because of that, Republicans can overthrow the establishment and keep
Romney and Republican leaders from thwarting the will of the people
only by voting overwhelmingly for Trump in the remaining primaries.
If they do so, Trump will win on a first ballot, and the machinations
Republican leaders are planning will be foiled.
Why
is it that Republican leaders are so willing to sacrifice Republican
prospects in November to ensure the nomination of a candidate not
supported by rank and file Republicans? It is not because they adhere
to some sort of conservative litmus test. Despite his ideological
purity, Cruz is persona non grata with them. Indeed, they have embraced
the likes of Mitt Romney and George Bush in the past who were often
proponents of big government. Remember, Romney brought us Obamacare
writ small when he was Governor of Massachusetts, and George Bush
championed the passage of Medicare Part D (the prescription drug benefit
for seniors), the largest welfare program adopted in the United States
before Obamacare.
Republican
leaders, the old party guard, are not ideological purists like Ronald
Reagan was, they are protectionists, more interested in feathering
their own nests than in limiting government power. They have long
allied themselves with Democrats to favor political appointees who,
and government programs that, are favored by industry special interests
who hold out the promise of lucrative paybacks for them.
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