Rick Klein writes for ABC News:
Donald Trump now owns the Republican party. The only question left is whether what’s left of the GOP establishment can winnow the field fast enough to take it back.
South Carolina reveals a three-way Republican race — with six candidates in it. Pressure will be enormous for all but Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz to exit before it’s too late for the party to block Trump.
What Trump has established himself, though, cannot and should not be ignored. He has mocked, taunted and threatened the party establishment on his way to his undisputed front-runner status.
He has called his opponents corrupt, unstable, low-energy liars and losers. Just in the past week, he said President George W. Bush lied about the Iraq War and called Pope Francis“disgraceful” for questioning his faith.
Despite all that – and maybe because of it – Trump romped in Saturday’s South Carolina primary.
He’s done it by bringing the party along to his positions. Exit polls show three-fourths of South Carolina voters supporting a ban on Muslims entering the United States – a position Trump enunciated first, and stood for on his own.
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