David Axelrod: Donald Trump’s ‘Hostile Takeover of The Grand Old Party’

Democratic Strategist David Axelrod says GOP frontrunner Donald Trump “could pull off a hostile takeover” of the Republican Party.

“What seemed impossible now seems more than plausible: Donald J. Trump, the self-referential deal maker, could pull off a hostile takeover of the Grand Old Party,” President Obama’s former top advisor said in an op-ed for the New York Times.

“The Republican base is infuriated by Mr. Obama’s activist view of government and progressive initiatives, from health care reform and immigration, gay rights to climate change,” Axelrod writes. “Beyond specific issues, however, many Republicans view dimly the very qualities that played so well for Mr. Obama in 2008.”

“Deliberation is seen as hesitancy; patience as weakness,” he added.

His call for tolerance and passionate embrace of America’s growing diversity inflame many in the Republican base, who view with suspicion and anger the rapidly changing demographics of America. The president’s emphasis on diplomacy is viewed as appeasement.

“As the most ardent and conspicuous counterpoint to the man in the White House today, the irrepressible Mr. Trump has already defied all expectations,” Axelrod wrote. “So, in the parlance of one of his signature businesses, ‘who wants to bet?'”