Trump Poll Lead Returns to Pre-Debate Levels; Biden Says "No" to Possible Run

Four national polls have been released the last four days showing that Donald Trump's lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination returning to pre-debate levels.  Following the fCnn and Fox News debates, Trump's support which approached and at times exceeded 30%, sunk to the low 20%.  The four polls, commissioned by ABC/Washington Post, CNN, NBC/Wall Street Journal and Monmouth, show Trump with 32%, 25%, 28% and 27%.  All the polls show Dr. Ben Carson

Donald Trump

being in second place, trailing Trump by 10%, 5%, 3% and 10% respectively.

The big news on the Democratic side is that Vice President Joe Biden has decided against running for President.  Polls consistently showed Biden a much stronger general election candidate than Hillary Clinton.  Meanwhile polls show that Hillary's nomination fortunes have improved a bit, with her regaining the lead in New Hampshire and holding a strong lead in Iowa.

Returning to the Republican side, Leon Wolf of RedState has an excellent column on Donald Trump in which it asks Trumpites the following question:

What, hypothetically, would Trump have to do or say to cause you to stop supporting him? 

The article catalogues only a tiny fraction of Trump's liberal political history and points out that that liberal history would be disqualifying for any other GOP candidate. This includes Trump's previous support of immigration reform.

Voting, though, is at least theoretically supposed to be a different endeavor, especially for people who pride themselves on being the “reasonable” people in this country. It’s supposed to matter what candidates think, do, and say. There should be a point with literally every candidate where something they have done would push us over the edge to the point that we wouldn’t support them anymore.

This is all the more true with respect to Trump and his supporters, who allegedly exist because the Republican “establishment” has betrayed them one too many times, thus pushing them into the welcoming arms of The Donald. If betrayal of conservative principles, or strategic failures, or cronyism or whatever it is that caused you to become a Trump fan in the first place, shouldn’t an equivalent sin committed by Trump  likewise cause you to end your support of him?

I ask because I  would have thought that being a repeat donor to Clinton and other Democrats might have been that point for principled conservatives.

I ask because I would have thought that using Michael Moore’s talking points on 9/11 might have been that point for principled conservatives.

I would have  thought that defending federal funding of Planned Parenthood might have been that point for principled conservatives.

I would have thought that adopting Democrat rhetoric on the need to raise taxes on the wealthy might have been that point for principled conservatives.

I would have thought  that publicly professing a love for eminent domain might have been that point for principled conservatives.

I haven’t even gotten  into the insanely liberal things Trump said and did before he decided to run for President, because apparently being an unprincipled and opportunistic flip flopper only bothers principled conservatives when the candidate in question is Mitt Romney. It doesn’t even apparently matter that The Donald’s immigration stance is likewise a transparent flip flop from what he said as recently as 2013.

The conclusion of the author is that there is nothing that Donald Trump can do or say that would dissuade Trump supporters.   From what I've seen these past few months, I have to agree 100%.  To Trump supporters, the New York businessman has papal-like infallibility.  Everything Trump says, is by definition, absolutely correct.  It doesn't matter how liberal Trump is proven to be, the New York businessman will get a pass from Trumpites.  Hopefully the remaining 70% of Republicans who don't support Trump will retain their good sense and not support his nomination.  If Trump is nominated, conservatives will have lost the 2016 general election before it even starts.