“Thank God for Donald Trump,” says Bill Press, a radio show host and former chairman of the Democratic Party in California. “I think he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to the Democratic Party this year, because Donald Trump’s the new face of the Republican Party, no doubt about it.”…

‘The bottom line is he is damaging their brand, and that’s a huge problem regardless of whether he stays in the race,” says Rick Palacio, chairman of the Democratic Party in Colorado, a purple state where women and Hispanic voters are critical constituencies. “Donald Trump has become the proverbial anchor around their necks.”…

Asked whether Trump will have a lasting impact on the GOP and its general election chances, Republican strategist Alex Castellanos says, “He may have; we don’t know.”

“The answer is whether the nominee is a validation of Trump, or whether it is a rejection of Trump,” Castellanos says. “Does somebody absorb him and win, or does someone beat him and win?”