While pundits like Michael Gerson fret that a Donald Trump nomination would effectively shatter the Republican Party, eternal Republican pundit and politico Pat Buchanan says that Donald Trump represents the future of Republicanism.
Will the Republican establishment walk on a Trump nomination, should he win? If it does, let it walk, as it did in 1964. What the Trump phenomenon represents, whether the Washington establishment is appalled or not, is the future. Take a look at Europe. Ethno-nationalism from Scotland to Catalonia to Flanders, and nationalism in the form of parties like the UKIP [U.K. Independence Party] in Britain and FN [National Front] in France, new governments in Warsaw and Budapest — this looks more like the future than Angela Merkel or the E.U.
Pat Buchanan is the author of a book called The Death of the West: How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasions Imperil Our Culture and Civilization, a book that is essentially a Donald Trump rant made quasi-literate; staid Republicans professing confusion as to why the rabidly anti-immigrant Trump has soared to the top of Republican polls might examine the sort of things conservative Republican megapundit Pat Buchanan has said on news shows, in op-ed columns, in speeches, and in his various other outlets for decades.
Buchanan doesn't necessarily think a Trump nomination would lead to a devastating blowout in the general election, either. He just needs to woo minority voters:
With Obama not running, there is no reason Trump, a builder and job creator, could not win more of the African American vote than McCain who lost it 24-1. There is no reason Trump cannot win more Hispanics, who respond to strong leaders and job creators. Romney lost over 70 percent of the Hispanic vote.
Want to know the state of the Republican Party in 2016? It's Pat Buchanan explaining why Donald Trump will appeal to Hispanics despite what the genteel party scolds might think. There's your Republican Party.