Donald Trump on the defensive is something we're not used to seeing. This past week has shown us how the Republican presidential front runner handles being on the other side of attack mode, and it was not a pretty picture. Trump is no dummy, but the last Republican debate showed a man and his shoot from the hip form of politics being vigorously challenged by his opponents. He was scrambling to defend himself, and it became increasing hard to tell Trump fact from Trump fiction. A chink in his armor began to show. It had to happen at some point with a campaign strategy focused on personality more than substance.
March 3rd was not a good day for the Trump campaign. Former 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave an afternoon address to a conservative audience that opened the doors to a vehement attack on Trump. He called him a "phony and a fraud." The visual and temperamental contrast between the two men was hard to miss, as were Romney's very targeted words. "He's playing members of the American public for suckers," Romney said while continuing to make his thoughts clear "He has neither the temperament nor the judgement to be president."
While we can ask where Romney was months ago with his remarks, the fact remains that they were made yesterday and were not only more scathing than anything heard in the debate, they were more strategic. He publicly encouraged an open Republican convention. Surprising many Romney said, "Given the current delegate selection process, this means that I would vote for Marco Rubio in Florida, John Kasich in Ohio and for Ted Cruz or whichever one of the other two contenders has the best chance of beating Mr. Trump in a given state."
Trump’s response to Romney’s remarks were the type of personal put-downs for which he’s becoming known. He cited Romney's 2012 request for an endorsement saying, "He was begging for my endorsement. I could have said, ‘Mitt, drop to your knees,’ and he would have dropped to his knees."
Republican leaders kept piling on. Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, expressed concerns about "Mr. Trump's uninformed and indeed dangerous statements on national security issues."
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Romney's former running mate, also used March 3rd to publicly respond to what could only be called a threat made by Donald Trump in his Super Tuesday victory remarks. Trump said that Ryan would "pay a big price" if he didn’t get along with him. Yesterday, without using Trump's name, Ryan told reporters that he “laughed out loud,” after hearing those remarks. Appearing far from intimidated Ryan continued, "I was sitting in my office watching it live, and I just laughed out loud. I think sometimes reality's stranger than fiction around here these days."
March 3, 2016 was not just another day in Republican politics.