GOP operatives reportedly contemplating a million-dollar anti-Trump ad campaign

(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

published 5 January 2016

Just weeks ahead of the first primary vote, GOP operatives are reportedly still considering a plan to take down Donald Trump. The latest scheme, Politico reports, would employ Alex Castellanos, former adviser to Mitt Romney and George W. Bush, who has reportedly been meeting with top GOP operatives to "gauge interest in launching an anti-Trump vehicle that would pummel the Manhattan businessman on the television airwaves":

Those who’ve met with Castellanos say he’s offered detailed presentations on how such an offensive would play out. Castellanos has said that an anti-Trump ad campaign, which would be designed to cast him as a flawed strongman, would cost well into the millions. It was unclear, the sources said, whether Castellanos, who did not respond to a request for comment, would ultimately go through with the effort. [Politico]

While this plan centers on Trump, Politico reports that the fear extends beyond just his nomination. The establishment is also reportedly worried about the effects of Ted Cruz winning the nomination. Some contend that if either Trump or Cruz's name tops the ticket, everyone below — be it a GOP candidate for governor, senator, or Congress — is in peril. "At some point, we have to deal with the fact that there are at least two candidates who could utterly destroy the Republican bench for a generation if they became nominee," a former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. "We'd be hard-pressed to elect a Republican dogcatcher north of the Mason-Dixon or west of the Mississippi."