The Way to Stop Trump
No, it devastated Christie because it flipped his brand. Instead of the jerk who looks out for the average guy, he became the jerk whose allies had stuck it to commuters. Instead of the tough guy fighting for you, he became the tough guy whose goons would mire their constituents in traffic for a pointless little feud.
.. Now apply that model to the Inevitable Nominee. Calling Trump a creep and jerk and self-promoter clearly doesn’t work, because his voters have decided that someone with his business chops and middle-finger-first attitude is exactly what they need.
To attack him effectively, you have to go after the things that people like about him. You have to flip his brand.