Republican establishment wants to take down Trump, but is too afraid to try

The Republican establishment has never exactly been thrilled about Donald Trump, but its members have mostly been content to sit back and wait for him to implode. But he hasn’t imploded, and the Iowa caucuses are just two months away. That makes it panic time … but most establishment Republicans are too afraid of Trump to take him on directly.

Two of the most potent financial networks in Republican politics, that of the hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer and another led by the industrialists Charles G. and David H. Koch, have each had preliminary conversations about beginning an anti-Trump campaign, according to strategists involved. But Mr. Trump has already mocked Mr. Singer and the Kochs, and officials linked to them said they were reluctant to incur more ferocious counterattacks.

Isn’t that beautiful? The Koch brothers are afraid to attack someone! The Republican bullies have finally met a bully who outmatches them. But the establishment is equally worried that if someone doesn’t attack Trump, he might win the nomination, and then …

“If he carries this message into the general election in Ohio, we’ll hand this election to Hillary Clinton — and then try to salvage the rest of the ticket,” said Matt Borges, chairman of the Republican Party there, where Senator Rob Portman is facing a competitive re-election.

Pat Brady, the former state Republican chairman in Illinois, where Senator Mark S. Kirk is also locked in a difficult campaign, was even more direct. “If he’s our nominee, the repercussions of that in this state would be devastating,” Mr. Brady said.

Could we be so lucky as to see a nominee Trump? To be sure, we’d pay for any electoral gains by living through a general election campaign filled with the worst ugliness America has to offer, but think of the winning.