Tom Whitten: Republicans, we can’t be serious about nominating Trump
The current election metaphor seems likely to be: Republicans will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The “inevitable” Democrat has seriously damaged her campaign by the choosing to use a private email server and by mishandling the Benghazi controversy.
But Republicans now seem likely to skip several well qualified candidates for a late convert to the party, Donald Trump. The Donald was a registered Democrat for about 30 years and has, in recent elections, registered with the Independent, Reform and Republican parties when it served his purposes.
If Trump is the Republican candidate, Democrats will be happy to tell us a lot more about his three trophy wives, his use of bankruptcy four times, his use of eminent domain to acquire private property for his casino projects, etc. Trump seems likely to be the Republican nominee. But he is unlikely to win vs. Hillary or Joe Biden, who will enter the contest if Hilary is indicted, in the general election.
Tom Whitten, Tracy
This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Tom Whitten: Republicans, we can’t be serious about nominating Trump."