“Trump’s reasoning is that his unconventional approach helped him dispatch all of his primary opponents, and that same approach will help him put away Clinton in the general,” said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist. “Raising money and building an organization? Tasks that can be outsourced to the RNC. Message discipline and a professional communications operation? Who needs that when you have social media and earned media dominance?”…

“Some folks have been waiting for Act Two,” said one California GOP official. “Now they’re thinking, ‘Oh s—.’”

“Maybe this is all there is,” the official added…

But, if the prevailing emotion for some Republicans is surprise or disappointment, this is not the case for many of Trump’s steadfast detractors in the party.“Trump is Trump. Anyone who thought he was going to change or moderate or pivot is either a complete fool or was in a coma for the past year,” said Tim Miller, a former spokesman for Jeb Bush who later advised the anti-Trump outfit, Our Principles PAC. “Trump will always be the same person who delivered the off-the-cuff announcement speech that called Mexicans ‘rapists.’ People need to decide whether to embrace that or reject it. There is no third way.”