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How Donald Trump Shrank the Field

July 16, 2015 · 9:29 am ET · 51 Comments

First Read: “Yes, 17 Republicans are running for president. But the field seems much, much smaller than that — especially after the last three weeks of attention on Donald Trump. To put it simply, Trump has shrunk the Republican field. Now that won’t last; as we’ve written before, Trump’s past comments on abortion and health care will come back to bite him among GOP voters. He’ll come back down to earth, just as Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain eventually did in the 2012 race. But RIGHT NOW, it seems as if there are just three 2016 candidates out there: Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, and Donald Trump.”

“And if you’re Jeb, you have to love this, because it’s sucking oxygen from the rest of the field challenging you for the nomination. Realize that Scott Walker — perhaps the Republican other than Bush who’s most likely to win the GOP nomination, according to the media and pundits — announced his presidential bid this week. He, too, has been (temporarily?) Trumped.”

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Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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