In the battle for the soul of the Republican Party, Trump’s gain has come at Rubio’s expense. Rubio’s candidacy is an outgrowth of a consensus among GOP elites that the party must “modernize” and appeal to a diversifying electorate if it ever wants to win the White House again. Trump represents the opposite: the white and nativist faction of the party that is anxious about the country’s changing demographics. In a way, Rubio represents the “mind” of the GOP, which considers demographic shifts in its goal of retaking the White House, while Trump represents the “heart,” which longs for a more culturally traditional America…
“I know how this movie ends. We’re going to have a more sensible position on immigration or we’ll lose,” South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who supports immigration reform, told Bloomberg. “We’re alienating Hispanics for, I think, understandable reasons.”
Rubio’s strategy hinges on Trump collapsing. That looks like a dubious proposition. Trump has repeatedly defied predictions of impending doom and already outlasted erstwhile 2012 front-runners Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, and Rick Perry, all of whom enjoyed their moment in the sun before flaming out. The self-funded billionaire also doesn’t risk running out of money to keep his campaign running.
On the campaign trail, Rubio’s central pitch to Republicans is that he’s the candidate of the future. Trump is urging them to pick a different future, and so far it is working.
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