By Sal Bommarito
Mitt Romney finally toughened up and did something yesterday that he should have done 3 ½ years ago, he attacked.
Frankly, the whole thing was awkward as Romney is no longer a leader of the Republican Party, especially after his disappointing confrontation with Obama in 2012.
Unfortunately, condemning Trump now is so late in the game that it may, unbelievably, catapult the Donald to the nomination. Every time a celebrity attacks Trump his polling improves.
Mitt said, in so many words, that Trump is a fraud, is inexperienced, is not a great businessman, is really not a conservative and is basically immoral.
Trump’s opponents have been saying this about him for the past several months and continued to do so in last night’s debate. They baited Trump continuously about his business practices and his empty promises; as expected, his response was personal and nasty. He kept calling Rubio “little Marco.” You can decide for yourself what he meant by the comment. Trump continued to call Cruz a liar for some dirty politics that were uncovered earlier in the campaign.
Trump said Romney is a loser, his most ubiquitous response to an attack. But, he also said that Romney “would have dropped to his knees” for his endorsement. Really? Did the front running presidential candidate use such a tasteless metaphor? Yes, he did.
Notwithstanding his lead in the polls and successes in several primaries, many Republicans are asking whether they really want such an uncouth person to be president. Trump speaks in a disrespectful way without any inhibition. Why would he not act similarly with world leaders, in a speech at the United Nations or in a State of the Union address? The man is an egomaniacal wild card. He’s unpredictable especially when someone disagrees with him.
During the debate last night, Trump was asked to give specifics about his grandiose plans to make America great again. Time after time he resorted back to unsubstantiated rhetoric. He’s a master of telling others why they suck at their job, but never offers substantive details to solve problems. Maybe, he doesn’t have any.
How did we get to this place? Is the Republican bench so thin that a person like Trump is the presumptive nominee for president?
Trump has been capitalizing on the frustrations of Republicans. He’s done this masterfully. But, why has the conservative electorate pivoted so drastically? Is his fiery and uncensored rhetoric attractive to Americans? It appears so, and I’m concerned.
Donald Trump is leading the Republican Party down a very dark and dangerous path. The party is crumbling before us because it’s not addressing issues that are important to Americans. Rather it’s becoming more combative internally and with those on the other side of the aisle. Trump isn’t going to be able to reason with the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, much less Putin and Kim Jong-Il. None of these people are going to wither if Trump bullies them. Diplomacy must precede aggressive action. Trump doesn’t understand the concept.
Some people are sick of the Republican establishment. I’m disgusted with the candidates that the party has offered up in this election cycle.