Paul Ryan Fights to Survive Trump

Rick Klein: “On the day that Donald Trump said and then said he didn’t say that Second Amendment backers could stop Hillary Clinton from appointing judges, something remarkable happened in Wisconsin: Paul Ryan won his primary. By a lot. The House speaker won the GOP nomination by more than 46,000 votes out of 68,000 cast, for a ridiculous margin of 84-16. As is expected, and appropriate, Ryan was asked at his victory news conference to react to Trump’s latest. Ryan said he hopes Trump clears up what he said ‘very quickly.’ He also said something that you didn’t have to read between any lines to read as clearly anti-Trump. ‘It’s simple to prey on people’s fears,’ Ryan said. ‘That stuff sells, but it doesn’t stick. It doesn’t last.'”

“That’s Ryanism, which the speaker is presenting as an alternative to Trumpism – even now, post-convention, post-endorsement. If Trump has done something right in appealing to his base, so, undeniably, has Ryan. You don’t win by nearly 70 points in a primary, in the post-Cantor age, with Sarah Palin and Ann Coulter lined up for your opponent, if you don’t know what your voters want, in terms of style and substance. Ryan’s plan has been what it has always been: To still be standing, whatever happens at the top of the ticket.”