Writing at Fox News, Howard Kurtz notes:
The Republican establishment, which has always distrusted and discounted Donald Trump, is getting increasingly nervous.
So nervous, in fact, that some of its media voices are starting to denounce their party’s front-runner in the strongest possible terms.
As in, refusing to vote for the man if he’s the nominee. As in, loudly proclaiming that he will destroy the GOP.
Viewed from one perspective, this has the smell of panic. Viewed from another, it’s a case of party stalwarts speaking out based on principle.
For decades now, there has been primary-season sniping between the establishment wing and the insurgent/hard-line/Tea Party wing. Commentators rough up their least favorite candidate, even declare them unqualified for the White House.
But if that person prevails—think Mitt Romney in 2012—the sharpest Republican critics find a way to walk it back. Well, he wasn’t my first choice, but he would be better than Barack Obama. He’s evolved on immigration/tax cuts/ObamaCare. He would pull this country out of its left-wing tailspin.
These days, the rhetoric is getting so hot that there will be no scrambling back on board. Bill Kristol has been openly musing about a third party if Trump wins the nomination.
Does the conservative media elite hope to throw some tacks under the Trump steamroller with such sharp rhetoric? Or are its members just speaking out to clear their consciences?
If it’s the former, I think it might actually help Trump to have the Beltway types arrayed against him. These are the folks he is running against, and he’s never positioned himself as a doctrinaire conservative.
This is what worries the Establishment. For years, they thought they could pander to doctrinaire conservatives by making box checking speeches and promises they wouldn’t keep to a slew of interest groups. But the last eight years, and particularly the nomination of less than conservative candidates like Mitt Romney and John McCain has rendered cries of “Trump’s not conservative” irrelevant. When voters look at the GOP, they see a slew of Senators who were unable to control the runaway liberalism of the Obama Administration. To some extent, being in government is a de facto sign that you’re a part of that culture of unaccountability. When they look at Trump, they see someone who has a record of ruthless management and no use for excuses. Moreover, his angry style and wistful appeals to a bygone era of American politics goes a long way in convincing voters that he’s one of them in a way a seated politician could never be.
There is no antidote for that sort of enthusiasm. For the establishment, that’s a nightmare.
AAN Staff
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