Former Romney Adviser on Trump Alternative: 'Until Donald Trump Has the Nomination…All Things Are Po

[mia]

Source: ABC News

There remain deep rumblings inside the establishment of the Republican Party about presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. This week’s episode of ABC’s "Powerhouse Politics" podcast paints a picture in which the Republican National Committee may focus its efforts on down-ticket races to hedge the risk of losing the White House in November to presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, leaving a Trump operation with little infrastructure of its own scrambling to catch up.

Noting the frustration that has endured in several Republican circles with the party’s presumptive nominee, Stuart Stevens, a former adviser to Mitt Romney and an outspoken member of the Never Trump movement, said that there is "still a possibility that the convention could go in a different direction." Stevens noted, "Until Donald Trump has the nomination, one thing we've learned with Donald Trump is that all things are possible."

Stevens said that this sort of political frustration exists in the Democratic Party as well. "There's clearly a desire for an alternative in both parties," Stevens said while referring to recent poll numbers. Speaking of a possible third-party alternative to Donald Trump, Stevens said, "I think choice is good...If someone’s there and he’s credible, or she’s credible...“I think that would be positive.”

Stevens shared his take on the effect of the Trump campaign on the American electorate, saying that “The underlying reality of Donald Trump’s campaign is his continual appeal not to the best of us, but in many ways the worst of us. He’s the anti-Ronald Reagan, the anti-John Kennedy.” “He’s a grievance monger,” Stevens continued. “His appeal I think is he’s the guy who’s gonna settle the score.”


Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/romney-advisor-trump-alternative-donald-trump-nominationall-things/story?id=40089030

[forest444]

1. Cleave-land 2016

Let the games begin.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

10. The entire GOP underestimated him this year.

We risk doing the same.

Right now, despite offering some minimal relief to that small minority of rich, old, white guys who think that they are rational, (rMoney, and several others), the fact remains that it is exceedingly likely that Trump will win the convention.

We risk the following:

a. Being too confident. 8 point difference in an early poll mean nothing.

b. A lot of people, even in our party, absolutely hate and mistrust Hillary. That feeling is even stronger on the other side. Forget about what people think Bernie should do - what matters in the general election is what Hillary does, and who she chooses as VEEP. She has to build bridges, not Bernie.

c. fear, racism, fear of change. Trump offers something at the gut level that convinces people to ignore their own brains and to offer him support. I have seen it with friends and relatives, and nothing, NOTHING I say will change their minds.

d. beware dirty tricks. One of the white racists in California who is a Trump delegate, once blew up his campaign office in an effort to blame his political opponents. Trump is a dirty, nasty, cheating, street fighter. He will stop and nothing to achieve his goals. Case in point - look at how Chris Christie has been reduced, if not in waist measurement, then in ego and visibility - all due to Trump. I would not put it past some of his aides or nastier supporters to set up some huge, deadly bomb, and blame it on a group of left-handed, Lesbian, Mexican, Shiite Muslims who bribed Obama federal workers to sneak into Florida so they could set off a bomb at one of the less profitable Trump casinos. The resulting chaos and death would play right into his small hands.

[forest444]

12. Worth bookmarking for reference. Thank you.

Add all that to the slew of voter ID and other vote suppression laws, and we Democrats will definitely have our work cut out for us - no matter how many times the Trumpster sticks his foot in his mouth.

[cstanleytech]

15. Soon to be known as the Red Wedding capital of 2016.

[hollysmom]

2. I agree with him that Trump is not a given.

I hate that people think you can run a campaign saying I am not Donald Trump and win. Wait until after the convention to do that, He is doing a good enough job running against himself, INthe mean while build your positives go out there and sell your ideas,
I realize Iam not the voter they are appealing to, but I don't want to feel neglected - heck what TV shows I like don't matter tot he networks, what music I like doesn't matter to radio (streaming can get a little more into variety) advertising doesn't care about me, Now apparently elections don't want to be what I want them to be. Now elections are not interested in me, sigh, a mix of ageism, sexism and common people.

[Aristus]

3. Ronald Reagan didn't announce his candidacy in Philadelphia, Mississippi in order to appeal

to the best in us. He was Donald Trump with a veneer of Hollywood grace and a slightly less-weird hairdo.

[Cosmocat]

8. EXCELLENT post

[Aristus]

9. Republicans and the media still try to sell the narrative of the 'greatness' of Ronald Reagan.

RR was America's racist uncle elevated to the White House. Warm personality, big sunny grin, and a bottomless loathing for anyone not rich and white.

[fbc]

4. Maybe it was all a ruse so democrats would accept a weak candidate

Then they can switch out Trump for a candidate without historically low popularity.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. They must end this Cult of Personality

Make America Angry Again

Rabble rouse to get elected, gut treaties and laws, so you can buy
every resource - land, water, parks, drilling rights - and to hell with
the people and the consequences.

A global capitalist agenda.

[ericson00]

6. not gonna happen

who they gonna nominate? Cruz, who the GOPe hates more (by the virtue of the fact they could've made him the anti-Trump but dogged him), Rubio's running for re-election now, Jeb is clearly not ready for primetime (and BTW, his favorability ratings were lower than Hillary's when he left the race), Kasich, who came behind Rubio in delegates??

It's Trump. The GOP needs to learn what "going down with the ship" is.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. They would aim for Paul Ryan, but he is too powerful where he shits.

Sits. Whatever.

[ericson00]

14. and Ryan has a House record to run against.

History of the last 50 years has shown that whenever a member of Congress (House or Senate) faces a person who is not a member of Congress, the member of Congress loses. 1964, 1972, 1996, 2004. The only time a member of Congress has won was in 1960, or 2008 (both McCain and Obama were Senator).

LBJ easily took apart Goldwater's voting record, as did Nixon v McGovern, Clinton against Dole, and Bush against Kerry.

[The Second Stone]

7. Trump will crush any opposition at the convention, permanently damaging

anybody's future who does anything serious to interfere with the will of the voters. They won't mount any effort to stop him because they are all basically cowards who wouldn't know how to do the work necessary to undermine Trump even if they wanted to.

The really ancient Republicans who have no political future, and without children with a political future, have decided to stop Trump by endorsing Clinton: Scowcroft, Wilkerson and others.

[keithbvadu2]

13. The GOP elite are desperate to get rid of Trump.

The GOP elite are desperate to get rid of Trump. They are finagling how to subvert the will of the repub/cons base and rig the convention against him.

Trump has earned his delegates.

If the GOP establishment is so willing to ignore/bypass the beliefs of their own base, what is to prevent them from doing the same to our country?

The GOP elite feel they know better than their own people what our country needs (in their high and mighty political/corporate towers).

[sangfroid]

16. What an interesting concept!

Until he has the nomination...?