A funny thing's happening on the way to watching Donald Trump lay waste to the Republican Party with his rhetoric about immigration: Voters aren't buying the idea Trump speaks for all Republicans. Check out this new poll from Gallup, which the organization summarizes as "Hispanics frown on Trump, but not rest of GOP field" :
That doesn't look like a party that is being swallowed by Donald Trump. It looks like a party that has a number of candidates who could be competitive for Hispanic votes ... plus Trump.
That's not to say the eventual nominee won't be weighed down by Trump. For starters, the nominee could be Trump. (I still highly doubt it, but it's getting harder to say it's impossible.) The nominee could also be someone who takes the lead from Trump and strikes a deal to win his support or neutrality -- think Ted Cruz -- and thus takes on a lot of Trump's negative image with Hispanic voters. There's also the chance that a nominee who hasn't made his/her peace with Trump may face him again as an independent candidate in the general election.
And, of course, Democrats will make every effort to paint Trump as part and parcel of the GOP, the natural result of the rhetoric and actions of lots of Republicans, and thus to tarnish the eventual nominee as practically an alter ego of The Donald himself. In fact, we are already seeing such arguments coming from our friends on the left. This Gallup poll suggests, at least so far, Hispanic voters aren't falling for it.
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