Republican donors, strategists plot to take Trump down: Report

How can we stop Donald Trump? This is a question Republican Party donors and strategists have been asking themselves for weeks, a report says.

The GOP’s biggest donors are planning to invest scores of millions of dollars in a campaign to take Trump down, the New York Times reported.

Republican strategists and donors have gathered groups to launch a smear campaign against Trump and amassed dossiers on his previous support for universal health care and higher taxes, the Times report published on Friday said.

They have even discussed to establish a “super PAC” in order to convince conservative voters that the New York billionaire is not one of them.

But the big-money Republican network is also extremely worried that any concerted attack against Trump might backfire, given his tendency to counterattack viciously.

The wealthy donors have committed hundreds of millions of dollars to shape the Republican primary race and groom a contender who can win the White House back for them, but the maverick Manhattan developer has rocked their boat.

They are also finding that money is a devalued currency in the blustery, post-policy campaign designed by Trump, which is not driven expensive advertising campaigns but by social media feuds and unending free publicity, the Times report said.

“People are somewhat perplexed by the whole Trump phenomenon,” said Ray Washburne, a Dallas businessman working with Governor Chris Christie’s presidential campaign.

The Club for Growth, which helped sabotage the populist presidential run of Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, in 2008, is also planning to attack Trump.

The group has spent millions of dollars on intraparty campaigns attacking Republican candidates who deviate from conservative economic orthodoxy.

The group’s president, David McIntosh, however, said they were still not clear how to deal with Trump, who is tapping into the raw anger of Republican voters against leaders on Capitol Hill.  

The report said the campaign against Trump could cost as much as $20 million since he is a universally recognized name and has a knack for acquiring free airtime and column inches.

A Republican consultant working for a rival candidate said that a relentless campaign aimed at Fox News viewers could cost $2 million a week, while a more targeted attempt, aimed at Iowa caucus-goers later this year, would cost up to $10 million.

And there is no certainty of success, the Times said, adding that a campaign against Trump rather could make his comments about lobbyists and corporations scheming to finance his opponents more credible.

“Many Super Pacs, funded by groups that want total control over their candidate, are being formed to ‘attack’ Trump,” Trump said Tuesday on Twitter. “Remember when u see them.”

According to a new national poll, Trump leads Hillary Clinton head-to-head, garnering 45 percent support versus 40 percent of his Democratic rival.

Thirty percent of respondents believe Trump will finally be selected as the Republican nominee, according to the poll released on Friday.

And, according to a survey by Monmouth University that was released a day earlier, Trump enjoys a 30 percent support nationally.

The real estate magnate has scored a four-point gain over the same survey that was carried out before the first GOP debate.

Favorability rate for Trump has also seen a dramatic change, where in June it was only 20 percent positive and 55 percent negative. However, he’s now standing at 59 percent positive and 29 percent negative.

Pollsters say they have never seen anything like it. Trump’s dominance of the Republican race is forcing political experts to change their minds and question whether everything they know about winning the White House is wrong.

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