Donald Trump will not be the GOP nominee. Has no plans to be. He's running interference for Ted Cruz, who is silently drafting behind him and will pull around him when Trump finally glides into the pit, signaling "thumbs up" to Cruz as he sleazy-slimes past.
I've had this suspicion for a long time. Trump has absolutely nothing bad to say about his man-crush Cruz, and vice-versa. But now that he's attacked Huma Abedin and smeared her with Anthony Wiener's scandal, I can see more clearly than ever that he has no intention of seeking the vote of anyone other than the GOP crazy-creepy base.
At first he was funny, and he still is at times, but when you start attacking someone like Huma Abedin, you are simply a braying jackass with no filter and with no possibility of being elected - if there ever was one. He's still solidifying his lead with the base, but now he's also intentionally alienating anyone with a brain and/or a soul.
But Cruz, with opinions more covert but identical to those expressed - but not necessarily believed by Trump - will be the electable Trump. Think DirectTV's "Artsy-Crafty Romo" in reverse. Well, yeah, I get that a bunch of you don't see any difference between AC Romo and real Romo, but concentrate on the concept.
With Trump's endorsement he will have accomplished two things without lifting a finger. He will have automatically inherited Trump's GOP majority, and he will have insured that no one will approach him in the polls. Of course he can't do it the way Trump did, but while Trump's candidacy will be gone, his mouth won't. He will continue to pound Clinton, Obama, the GOP mini-me klown kar, and anyone else who challenges Cruz.
At first Cruz will be more abrasive, but as the election approaches, he will increasingly feign statesmanship while attempting to avoid slipping on the oil that oozes from his every pore. In fact Ted Cruz will seem downright reasonable by comparison, thanks to the mobility of the Overton window, which is now on roller skates.
He is smart enough to find a way to appeal to independents and possibly even some disaffected Democrats. That's counterintuitive to most of you, I'm sure. It would not be so much so if you lived where Ted and I do.
Why would Trump do this? Simple. If you know you can't be King, Kingmaker is a pretty good gig for an egomaniac.
I may be all wet - and I really, really, really hope I am and I will face the flying pies with appropriate humility - but if I'm onto something, we'd better be ready for it, because it will happen in the blink of an eye.
This is just a theory of course (so is gravity), but the conditions for it are more favorable than any other scenario I can think of.