Romney Needs to Dump the Trump

Sure, Mitt Romney is politically calculating, but his calculations are all wrong when it comes to Donald Trump. The guy is doing Romney no favors—and a stand against him could actually be a boon for Mitt, writes Ross Douthat in the New York Times. Candidates seeking Trump's support are confusing "the existence of a fan base (which Trump certainly has) with the existence of a meaningful constituency (which he almost certainly does not)."

People who like Trump's Obama-bashing are already going to vote against the president. And if Romney's worried about a third-party candidacy, he needn't be: The Donald is all ego, and "there is no possibility whatsoever that he would put his boasting to the test of an actual election." If Romney wants to help himself, he'll jump at the chance "to repudiate a figure who’s notionally to his 'right' (though in reality lacks any ideological commitment whatsoever) without risking any kind of sustained conservative revolt." Click for Douthat's full column. (More Donald Trump stories.)