Washington Post: #NeverTrump Crowd Relying on Magic To Stop Donald Trump or Ted Cruz at Contested Convention

A Washington Post columnist, Chris Cillizza, has a new column arguing against “the ‘magical realism’ of the #neverTrump crowd.”

Establishment Republicans can barely contain their excitement after the events of the last seven days.

Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was charged with battery in Florida for an incident in which he grabbed a reporter — and then denied doing so. Then Trump spent 48 hours defending Lewandowski and insisting the reporter had made up her story. Trump followed that political car wreck with another one — telling MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that if abortion was ever banned, women who had the procedure should be punished. He spent the next 72 hours trying to get out from under that mistake, taking a series of confusing positions in the process.

Amid all of Trump’s problems came even more good news for the establishment: Two polls in advance of Wisconsin’s Tuesday primary showed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with a double digit lead over Trump in the state. And, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker even endorsed Cruz.

For the #neverTrump movement, it was a banner week. But, what will it get them?…

In an election wholly defined by the Republican base’s dislike and distrust for the party’s leaders, how can you realistically expect that same base to capitulate to an establishment-favorite candidate who may have not even competed in the primary and caucus process?

You can’t. Or, at least, you shouldn’t. Magical realism in politics is a dangerous thing — it has just enough truth in it to be recognizable but not enough to make it actually doable.