A rich investment banker who believes in free trade lectured Republicans on Thursday about the need to reject Donald Trump as their candidate for president. It was a powerful speech but almost certainly a futile one in terms of swaying Trump supporters.
After all, Mitt Romney represents exactly the sort of calculating establishment figure in the Republican Party that Trump supporters despise.
They know Trump isn’t popular in Romney’s circles and they don’t care. Correction: They do care. They relish the discomfort that Trump instills in the elite.
Still, Romney’s speech may have been useful if it energizes anti-Trump Republicans into more energetic opposition, and is valuable even as a warning that stands by itself. At least Romney didn’t stand on the sidelines as his party hurtles toward a fateful choice that could decimate its influence for years.
Not that Democrats are without their worries. In a grave development, the Department of Justice has reportedly granted immunity to a former State Department staffer who worked on Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail server that the above-the-law former secretary of state used and which held classified material at various times (whether or not it was classified at the time).
As The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza notes, Democrats should be very nervous. “The Justice Department doesn’t go around granting immunity to people unless the person getting the immunity may be able to shed light on an important part of the investigation,” he explained — meaning “things may get worse for Clinton when it comes to the e-mail server before they get better.”
And it’s only early March.
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