The Man You Can’t Escape
A million apologies for being a day late with this week’s newsletter! Well, maybe a thousand. Would you believe a hundred…?
This is what Donald Trump has reduced me to: Lame openings of delayed newsletters. The delay was actually due to various things, including a busy weekend featuring a couple of panels at the big AIPAC conference, and visiting with friends who were in from out of town. But it was also caused by lots of time spent in anti-Trump agitation, writing, counseling, conspiring and the like. Which all seemed to be going pretty well. Then a new CBS/New York Times poll came out last night, with Trump at 46 percent of Republican primary voters, Cruz at 26 percent, and Kasich at 20 percent. And then a CNN poll with similar results.
A bit demoralizing. Or as a friend eloquently put it, Ugh. And worse than Ugh. Because not only does Trump retain a comfortable lead, but Kasich is strong enough in the poll that he won’t get out, thereby probably continuing to split the anti-Trump vote and ensuring continued Trump success.
But you never know. Let’s see what the voters in Arizona and Utah do today. And what the voters of Wisconsin do in two weeks. And then there’s the possibility of an independent candidacy, which I think is more viable than conventional wisdom has it. Above all, let’s remember the old truth, that it’s always darkest…before things go completely black.
In any case, if you want to read good material on Trump, you can read Fred Barnes, Steve Hayes, Jonathan Last, and me in the most recent issue. You can read Mike Warren’s account of Trump’s press conference yesterday, among other posts on the website. And if you’re interested in looking back on this year’s GOP race–or just in a terrific read–there is and will be nothing better than Matt Labash’s terrific debriefing of Jeb!’s SuperPAC’s mastermind , Mike Murphy, also in the new issue.
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No Trump!
Anyway here’s my resolve: I’m not mentioning Donald Trump for the rest of this newsletter. Which is why it will be unusually short…
Along those lines, we were at a very nice Shabbat lunch this weekend. We all agreed we deserved a pleasant break from the cares of the week, in the spirit of the Sabbath, and therefore wouldn’t discuss Trump at the lunch table. We were able to stick to our resolution for about 15 minutes.
Earlier in the week, I taught a seminar at Yeshiva University on modern American conservatism, which I very much enjoyed. We read essays by Bill Buckley and Irving Kristol, and the wonderful letter to the editor of National Review from sixty years ago in which the philosopher Leo Strauss explained to American conservatives why they should be well-disposed to the young state of Israel. The students were terrific, and the two hour session featured lively discussion and interesting arguments. It was approaching its end, and all was well…when one student semi-apologetically said, “I can’t help but ask. How does all this relate to Donald Trump?”
So it’s hard to get away from him. That evening in New York I took some young people I know, including a few Iraq and Afghanistan vets, to dinner at Ilili–a fun restaurant at 27th and 5th which I recommend to my fellow hipsters. We discussed the NCAA tournament, they talked about their jobs and aspirations, they told some military stories…and then it was onto Trump.
I’m tempted to say Trump, too, shall pass. But apparently not for a while, and not, I fear, without significant damage. So I’d better get back to work on stopping Trump. So if this newsletter is belated, and a bit abbreviated, all I’ve got to say is: Blame Trump!
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Onward!
Bill Kristol
