Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld (R) told the Associated Press that Stuart Stevens, the former chief strategist for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, is his general consultant as he explores a primary bid against President Trump.
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“Trump has somehow combined the sensibility of Joe McCarthy with an ideology that would get him investigated by the McCarthy committee.”
— GOP strategist Stuart Stevens, on Twitter.
A Neutron Bomb Has Gone Off In the Republican Party
GOP strategist Stuart Stevens joins us on Political Wire Conversations for a great discussion about what Donald Trump has done to the Republican party.
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Bonus Quote of the Day
“Donald Trump is Todd Akin. He is Richard Mourdock and Sharron Angle. But that is really not fair to Akin, Mourdock and Angle. They weren’t nuts. They had political views and others that made them unelectable. With Donald Trump, it is instability. He is an absurd candidate for president. He is a neutron bomb that has gone off in the Republican Party that is destroying anyone near him.”
— GOP strategist Stuart Stevens, quoted by the Huffington Post.
Not Built for Speed
In an interview with the Washington Post, former Mitt Romney strategist Stuart Stevens compared Donald Trump’s campaign to a jalopy:
Most cars do fine at 40 or 50 miles an hour. But the test comes when you take it up to 100 mph and run it all day and night. That’s when problems emerge and things start to fall off. Conventions and post conventions is when campaigns must start to hit the high speeds necessary to compete in a general election. I don’t think Trump or the campaign is any worse or better than a couple of months ago. They were just driving slower. As the speed increases, they can’t keep it out of the ditch.
I often hear conversations in the Republican Party that are like being in a car needing to drive 100 miles with only 20 miles of gas left while debating the merits of stopping for gas. The car doesn’t care. It will go 20 miles and stop.
Quote of the Day
“Donald Trump is like that stray dog anybody can pet and it will follow you home. Putin praises him so he loves Putin. It’s embarrassing and sad. He’s a seriously damaged individual who is deeply insecure and needs attention and praise and the source doesn’t matter.”
— GOP strategist Stuart Stevens, quoted by Politico.
Fourth in Iowa?
Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney’s chief strategist in 2012, tells the Washington Post that he thinks Donald Trump will finish fourth in Iowa, “with Cruz winning and Rubio and Carson in second or third, pick ’em.”
“Trump’s entire definition is based around ‘winning.’ So if he doesn’t win Iowa he has lost Iowa and that makes him a…loser, that dreaded word in the Trump lexicon. So Loser Trump comes out of Iowa and goes into New Hampshire. When is the last time the first-place Republican candidate in New Hampshire spent less time campaigning in the state than the second or third place? New Hampshire voters want to be loved and demand great amounts of personal commitment. If you can win by flying in and out and holding a rally, New Hampshire becomes just another Tarmac Campaign State.”
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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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