Conservative intellectuals have become convinced that Mr. Trump, with his message of nationalist-infused populism, poses a dire threat to conservatism, and plan to issue a manifesto on Friday to try to stop him.
Meanwhile, the cadre of Republican lobbyists, operatives and elected officials based in Washington are much more unnerved by Mr. Cruz, a go-it-alone, hard-right crusader who campaigns against the political establishment and could curtail their influence and access, building his own Republican machine to essentially replace them.
.. Yet many members of the Republican influence apparatus, especially lobbyists and political strategists, say they could work with Mr. Trump as the party’s standard-bearer, believing that he would be open to listening to them and cutting deals, and would not try to take over the party.
.. Moreover, some believe that Mr. Trump’s campaign could serve as a much-needed release valve for a Republican electorate.
.. The debate essentially revolves around what is more important — who controls the party, or what the party stands for.
.. You can coach Donald. If he got nominated he’d be scared to death. That’s the point he would call people in the party and say, ‘I just want to talk to you.’”
Can Donald Trump Take Up the Mantle of Jerry Falwell?
.. But perhaps the most surprising comparison came from Liberty University president, Jerry Falwell Jr., on Fox News Channel last week: “I think Trump reminds me so much of my father.”
.. If evangelicals held Trump to the same standard they have applied to leaders in the past, he would hardly pass muster. Russell Moore, leader of the Southern Baptist denomination’s political arm, recently described Trump as “unrepentant serial adulterer who has abandoned two wives for other women” and who has grown rich through “an industry that preys on the poor and incentivizes immoral and often criminal behavior.”
.. The fact that Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, and Ben Carson have also spoken at the evangelical college suggests that the Republican road to the White House passes through Lynchburg, Virginia. But if evangelical engagement with politics is driven by a politics and morality, Trump may be facing an impossible task.
.. Both Falwell and Trump have also made comments widely believed to be misogynistic. Trump has mocked the physical features of prominent women such as Rosie O’Donnell—and who can forget his comments insinuating that Fox News host Megyn Kelly was probably menstruating? Falwell often attacked feminists, once saying, “These women just need a man in the house.”
Iowa Trump Supporter: I would vote for Attila the Hun
“I do not want a politician,” said Marlajean Hamby, 74, a supporter of Mr. Trump. “I would vote for Attila the Hun if he would go to Washington and tear things up.”
Gingerly, Donald Trump Tries Out Some Campaign Conventions
The risk for Mr. Trump is that too much baby-kissing, people-pleasing, Mr. Nice Guy politicking will come across as inauthentic to voters who like that he is, in their view, a tough-talking realist about perceived threats from Muslims, illegal immigrants, and budget-busting Democratic and Republican leaders in Washington.
.. Republican strategists were divided about whether he could win the party’s nomination without embracing retail politics.
.. “This was one of the reasons Romney lost, in my view — he just did largely rallies and stump speeches and was not seen rolling up his sleeves and talking to people where they live,” said Greg Mueller, who advised Patrick J. Buchanan when he ran in New Hampshire in 1992 and 1996. “Trump is positioning on the issues as a populist and a nationalist. He now has to connect with people where they live, not just in speeches.”
.. Only sporadically does Mr. Trump take questions from actual voters, and even those town hall-style events have an atypical feel, with people shouting out questions or Mr. Trump answering them in lightning-round fashion.
.. “He’s the reality TV candidate out here,” Mr. Gross said. “It’s hard to entertain people when they have fried chicken curling out of the corner of their mouths. That’s a dangerous move for him, to transition from reality TV to politics in real time.”