I agree that there is change, but change always is occurring. I see this change as having been happening for a long time; I’ve watched it happen for at least the last 5 years that I’ve been blogging. The only thing different lately is that Trump is a candidate and this time he’s getting traction. In 2012 he tested the waters at the beginning of the campaign season and he was leading in the polls for a while (you can look it up); then when Obama released his birth certificate the support for Trump fell and he never formally announced, and stopped acting like he was running. But at the beginning of that campaign he was doing very well, and that was 4 years ago.

The stage has been slowly set in the four years since then, with the rage being fanned to the point where Trump is now a viable candidate.

I keep seeing people saying what you said: “One Republican candidate is winning practically every state and every demographic; every demographic except for the Republican elites.” My answer is that that one Republican candidate is getting a plurality of every demographic except for the “Republican elites” in a field of five candidates.

Consistently that candidate is getting a one-third plurality of GOP voters, and 2/3 are voting for someone else. Now, maybe if all but one opponent dropped out, he’d get more than 50% and of all those demographics. But right now, I don’t think he’s getting 50% of any demographic.

I have no idea what strength above that basic 1/3 Trump actually has, or would have, in a contest with fewer candidates. I also don’t know if we will ever see fewer candidates.

For the record, I am a Cruz supporter, including financially. I cheered every shutdown he threatened.
But he’s not going to make it.
I don’t dispute any of the things you say about Cruz; out of a very talented field of candidates he was my choice. But the political landscape wasn’t there. Yes that is a tragedy, in my opinion. But that doesn’t count for anything.
There are monumental shifts going on. Charles Koch agrees with Bernie Sanders (okay, not really a shift). The Democratic Party candidate may very well face extensive felony charges before the election, and neither that candidate nor the party is stepping back. One Republican candidate is winning practically every state and every demographic; every demographic except for the Republican elites. (We now even have a new acronym: GOPe.) We could very well see large segments of Democrats rejecting their party’s nominee. And likewise Republican. The monumental shifts are not just political. No one knows how powerful they are, or what the consequences will be — whether political, economic, financial, cultural, or even fundamental security, starting with our streets. Global hot spots are not going to cool down; they most likely will continue to get worse and continue to spread. The good guys are not calling the shots; it no longer appears they are even capable of doing so. The Marine Corps has been directed to remove the word “man” from training manuals?! Have the warriors left the military, leaving the careerists in charge?
I spoke about the essence of the Republican Party. That has to be maintained. But the structural values are now worthless. What is the Party going to do? Fighting Trump will very shortly no longer be the answer.
I am not a nihilist; but I think I know pretty well the patterns of change. And we are in a massive state of change. None of us knows what, when, where, or how. We’re pretty sure we know who; and that’s something.

That’s why Trump is picking up endorsements: The endorsers want to WIN, not go down to a Goldwater-scale defeat. If that means going with a broken clock who will at least be right twice a day, as opposed to the Evil Empress who wants to destroy the clock, they’ll go for the Donald.

That’d not name-calling, that’s just the way he is. Yu know the story of the scorpion and the camel, right? It’s his nature.

Keep this handy to make a fix at the premise level of the political discourse that’s needed to revitalize strong-horse American leadership.

But LePage is nothing like Trump, politically, as I explained. So the only comparison is that they’re both blunt and they both hate the MSM. That’s NOT what I object to about Trump.

In addition, as I’ve said many times, I do not think Trump will be elected, but I think his nomination guarantees Hillary’s win.

Uh, for the record, I voted for Paul LePage twice, both in 2010 and 2014. And by having seen LePage as governor, I see less reason to panic over a hypothetical Trump presidency.

Both Christie and LePage are smart guys. They see how the political landscape is shaping up. We’ll all have a clearer understanding of things within the next two weeks, as more primary results come in. Looking further ahead, I would be surprised if the primary went past April 19th and April 26th.

And would it not be a good thing, later on in the general election, if Maine went for the Republican candidate, as that state has not done since 1988? Maybe increased turn-out in favor of a candidate could help, when only about half the electorate votes in a Presidential election?

I think the core of the American socio-political structure is still strong and resilient. The only candidate who really concerns me is Hillary Clinton, not any of the others.

I disagree.

I would amend that to say that is was the perception of what the GOP in Congress was doing or not doing, and at least in part a misperception about what they actually could do to stop Obama, that is responsible.

I have written on the topic over the years so many times I cannot count them, both in posts and in the comments section (a few of the many examples are this, this, and this). Because I write in the blogosphere and check in with blogs and comments around the blogosphere, and have done so for years, I have been hyper-aware of the growing and increasingly bitter anger and disdain.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that Congress has covered itself in glory or has done what it promised. But it has done more—and more to stop Obama—than most people realize. I don’t have time right now to write a tome about this, especially since it’s a tome I have written before. Trump is a demagogue, but he has following the path prepared by other demagogues in the blogosphere, on Twitter and other social media, and on talk shows, who have had their own reasons for whipping people up into a veritable frenzy of rage.

I’ve watched it happen. Trump is the fruit.

“The real blame rests on the Republican leadership in Congress. They created the vacuum that made Donald Trump possible. Absent opposition to Obama, looking with disdain upon their voters, ignoring all of their campaign promises, and governing against the will of their voters is why Donald Trump is even in the race. Porous borders, a record low labor participation rate, disdain for American culture and traditions, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness and helplessness did not register with the Beltway elite. Now the GOP is on a rendezvous with destruction. Perhaps out of the ashes a new conservative party can emerge, but the transformation will not be ‘grand’ and it won’t be the ‘old’ party.”