Subject: For approval: The Party of Dangerous Donald
From: "Palermo, Rachel" <[email-masked]>
To: RR2 <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2016 14:27:57 -0700

SL: The Party of Dangerous Donald

Donald Trump hasn't taken over the Republican Party- instead, GOP leadership over the years has promoted the divisive policies that allowed Trump to flourish. With Trump's recent sweeping  victories, the GOP has moved from denial to acceptance. They are now embracing a candidate whose dangerous views on a host of issues make our country less safe.

See what people are saying about the GOP's new stance on Dangerous Donald:

WATCH<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWTr-ObsQLs&feature=youtu.be>

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWTr-ObsQLs&feature=youtu.be>

GOP elites are now resigned to Donald Trump as their nominee<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gop-elites-are-now-resigned-to-donald-trump-as-their-nominee/2016/04/28/7ee8cf72-0cbc-11e6-a6b6-2e6de3695b0e_story.html?postshare=5411461879814755&tid=ss_tw>
WASHINGTON POST // PHILIP RUCKER
Throughout the Republican Party, from New Hampshire to Florida to California, many leaders, operatives, donors and activists arrived this week at the conclusion they had been hoping to thwart or at least delay: Donald Trump will be their presidential nominee.

An aura of inevitability is now forming around the controversial mogul. Trump smothered his opponents in six straight primaries in the
Northeast and vacuumed up more delegates than even the most generous predictions foresaw. He is gaining high-profile endorsements by the day - a legendary Indiana basketball coach Wednesday, two House committee chairmen Thursday. And his rivals, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, are making the kind of rushed tactical moves that signal desperation.

"People are realizing that he's the likely nominee," said Tim Pawlenty, a former Minnesota governor and onetime endorser of Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. "The hysteria has died down, and the range of emotion is from resignation to enthusiasm."

Congressional GOP beginning to accept Trump as nominee<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a46ce2318e15416e9e39a11dba9e1c06/congressional-gop-beginning-accept-trump-nominee>
ASSOCIATED PRESS //  ERICA WERNER
Congressional Republicans are beginning to accept, and even embrace, an outcome that was once unthinkable: Donald Trump as the GOP presidential nominee.
...
Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a respected senior member of the Senate, previously endorsed Jeb Bush and then Sen. Marco Rubio and said he doesn't intend to endorse Trump. But Hatch said Thursday of Trump: "It looks to me like he's going to win and if he does I'm going to do everything in my power to help him."

Some leading Republicans have forecast that a Trump candidacy could spell electoral disaster, help Democrats win back control of the Senate and even cost Republicans seats in the House. They point to Trump's disparaging comments about women and minorities that have contributed to high unfavorability ratings.
...
Perhaps partly because of Cruz's unpopularity, it's getting easier to find leading lawmakers speaking publicly in favor of Trump. On Thursday, Trump picked up endorsements from House committee chairmen: Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, who chairs the Transportation Committee, and Jeff Miller of Florida, who chairs Veterans Affairs.

GOP Washington establishment begins warming to Trump<http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/28/politics/gop-establishment-donald-trump/>
CNN // MANU RAJU
...House and Senate Republicans are reluctantly coming to terms with the reality that the real estate mogul -- a man many feared given his unpredictability, questionable policy positions and lack of discipline on the campaign trail -- will likely be their party's standard bearer. Rather than fight it, a number of Republicans say, it may be time to embrace it.
...
Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving Senate Republican, said Thursday he'd do "everything in my power" to help Trump if he's the nominee.

"I think he can be great if he'll get serious about being president -- and I think he will," Hatch said. "He's a clever, smart guy who will want to be remembered for doing great things. I have a feeling he can make that transition."

A First: GOP Leaders Like Trump Speech<http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/04/28/a_first_gop_leaders_like_trump_speech_130417.html>
REAL CLEAR POLITICS // REBECCA BERG
If Donald Trump has begun to refer to himself as the "presumptive" Republican nominee, the positive reaction Wednesday by some party leaders and strategists to his foreign policy address seemed to affirm that notion.
..
The reactions seemed to mark a tipping point for Republican Party opinion of Trump. If the GOP in this election has endured the five stages of grief vis-a-vis Trump, beginning firmly with denial, many party activists and elected officials are now reaching the final phase - acceptance.

Rubio starting to accept a Trump nomination?<http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/04/29/donald-trump-marco-rubio-florida-republican-convention/83710352/>
USA TODAY // DAVID M JACKSON
It seems like more and more Republicans are coming to terms with the prospect of a Donald Trump presidential nomination - even Marco Rubio.

Rubio, whose clashes with Trump during the campaign included jibes about the size of hands and other body parts, is now telling people that the businessman's performance has improved significantly, and is warning against the idea of a contested GOP convention in July.

"Look, let's not divide the party," Rubio told Miami radio host Jimmy Cefalo, reports theTampa Bay Times<http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/marco-rubio-warming-up-to-donald-trump/2275308>.

"You have someone here who has all these votes, very close to get 1237, let's not ignore the will of the people or they're going to be angry," Rubio said. "Delegates may decide on that reason that they decide to vote for Donald Trump, but if they don't it's not illegitimate in any way."