Maybe that "anointing Paul Ryan at a contested convention" thing isn't quite dead yet

[Miles Archer]

I don't know what to make of the Huffington Post home page:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

This seems like the first time Trump screwed up where it's really is sticking, but it is hard to tell if that's an illusion (what's left of the GOP scrambling to cover their backsides in the wake of something that is not resonating well with the public) or reality (the wheels will be turning to oust Trump at the convention). He got his delegates, so it will be a battle, but that doesn't mean it's not going to happen.

If Trump is "in it to win it" and the GOP has his back, this...and anything else he does to add to it in November...could very well be the "jump the shark" moment we've been waiting for, the one where all of the talk about kicking his teflon ass in November stops being talk and becomes reality.

Up till this moment, my reaction has been "But his base will slough off anything he says."

Maybe not with this one.

If they throw Ryan in, he's damaged goods in this election cycle, and as much as he fancies himself as the master of back-pedaling, it's going to be pretty impossible for him to explain why he endorsed a guy he knew inside and out.

Then there's the Bill Kristol (and formerly Mitt Romney) "spoiler squad," and I don't think any of the people he's hinted at are "electable"...at least not this year, with virtually no momentum. There is no Republican "Mighty Mouse" savior who is going to swoop down and save the day.

What do you think..."this too shall pass," or did Trump fatally shoot himself in the foot?

[gratuitous]

1. For Trump to step down, he would repudiate his very existence

Trump sees himself as a winner, a guy who always makes the right move, always succeeds. He beat the best the Republican party had to offer (don't laugh), and whipped them all in a fair fight over several months. He didn't just slide by, he annihilated each and every competitor, and made just about all of them come back and endorse him. The ones who didn't swear fealty to their new overlord were dismissed as disgusting losers.

Trump barely listens to anyone else, but if he does, it's because they validate him. When someone else has something negative or corrective to say, you can actually watch him tune that person out, planning his next self-aggrandizing comment. Any effort to take his fairly won victory away will be met with the full force of his bluster and the bleating chorus of his supporters; the Republicans are stuck with him for 2016. Their mission now is to minimize the catastrophic damage Trump is going to do to their party.

[Miles Archer]

5. If he makes it to November 5th...

...the "brand" will pretty much die that day. It already has in a lot of ways.

It seems like their only way to really minimize the damage is to cut their losses and get him off the ticket. What is really interesting is that they are screaming about him but not showing their hand. Up until now, they telegraphed every one of their punches. My guess is that the #NeverTrump meetings will probably be closed-door affairs from this point forward. I'm guessing someone had to probably pull Bill Kristol aside and tell him to keep his mouth shut, because he lacks the ability to do that on his own.

[HooptieWagon]

2. Im thinking the Republicans are going to attempt something.

Trump is the only candidate with a possibility of losing to a Dem candidate as weak as Clinton...Ryan or somebody beats her badly. Plus they've got down-ticket races to worry about. We're pretty screwed with Clinton atop the ticket. At least the blame will be placed directly on the Third Way conservadem idiots.

[Warpy]

3. They will have to

because Trump is so thin skinned and has been acting so totally wacky of late that they know damned well they can't risk not being able to manipulate him once he's in office.

[Miles Archer]

4. That's two excellent points

Doesn't really matter where we first saw him as Sarah Palin (as in, when he first announced his intentions)...but if the powers that be see him that way, they'll take him out. Despite all of the #NeverTrump rhetoric, I didn't see that moment happening, until now. After all of the "wall" talk, the Islamophobia, the sexism, this may be the one that did him in.

And, they've probably though that they would control him if he got in, and I think he has finally proven to them that this will not happen.

[L. Coyote]

6. New rule, Candidates with Alzheimer's should not use Twitter or ...

open their mouths in public.