Republican Party

“It’s a suicide mission,” said the Republican Party Chairman.

Reince Priebus was commenting on a Washington Post story about Mitt Romney and William Kristol’s plot to recruit a third-party conservative candidate to sink Donald Trump.

Several big-name Republican “consultants” and “strategists” are said to be on board. Understandably so, given the bucks involved. With the kind of cash that sloshes around in a presidential campaign, there should be no shortage of super PAC parasites at the enlistment office.

“No modern precedent exists for the revival of a party so badly defeated, so intensely discredited, and so essentially split as the Republican Party is today.”

Taken from The Party That Lost Its Head by Bruce Chapman and George Gilder, this excerpt, about Barry Goldwater’s defeat in 1964, led Thursday’s column by E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post. Dionne is warning what could happen if the GOP perpetrates the political atrocity of nominating Donald Trump.

Ross Douthat revisits his assumptions about Trump and the GOP:

As with any other time Trump makes a public appearance, scores of protesters, media and gawkers - including a bagpiper - gathered outside the Republican National Committee on Thursday morning hoping to catch a glimpse of Donald Trump, some protesting, some adoring, and some just curious. As the Hill puts it simply: a "wild scene."

Following today's eagerly anticipated summit between Paul Ryan and Donald Trump, don’t expect a joint press conference or photo op. As the Hill notes, Ryan is showing no signs that he’s prepared to swiftly endorse Trump when they emerge from their huddle at Republican National Committee (RNC) headquarters on Thursday morning.