Donald Trump Cant win! liberals cry

A reader writes, “Everyone says Donald Trump can’t win. Exactly why not?”

David Leonhardt, editor for The Upshot, considers the question:

Can Donald Trump win the Republican nomination? Sure, it’s within the realm of plausibility; he’s now been leading the polls for months, after all. But it seems highly unlikely because it would violate just about every historical pattern of presidential races.

No modern candidate has received a major-party nomination — and perhaps no candidate in American history — while being opposed by the party’s elites: donors, media figures, politicians and others.

Elite support matters because they have the ability to shape public opinion through endorsements, public criticism and other means. Many voters don’t follow campaigns very closely. They don’t dig through position papers or watch hours upon hours of debates. They’re influenced by what they hear.

In every recent Republican presidential campaign, a couple of contenders — often with resumes atypical of a serious candidate — have shot to the top of the early polls, only to fade as they face scrutiny and criticism. What’s fascinating about Mr. Trump is that he has, if anything, endured harsher criticism, and yet he has also remained atop the polls for longer.

Perhaps Republican primary voters have grown so fed up with the country and their party that they’re willing to dismiss the collective opinion of Republican elites (which now seems to favor Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush). But it really would be unprecedented for the party to nominate someone like Mr. Trump, Ben Carson or Carly Fiorina.

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