Mitt Romney's calm and measured critique of Donald Trump will cruelly backfire

Mitt Romney has done something that no Republican presidential nominee has done during the modern primary process: denounced the man who is the frontrunner to succeed him as the party's standard-bearer.

The speech was a doozy. He went after Trump's personal character, his finances, his positions on issues ranging from trade to Iraq. "Dishonesty is Trump's hallmark," Romney said. The audience cheered his list of indictments, as did anti-Trump Republicans on social media who were watching his remarks on television.


Romney is a nice man. He was a reasonably good governor in Massachusetts. He is the worst possible spokesman for Republicans against Trump. First, he is the losing Republican from 2012.

 I mention "losing" — the thing Romney did in the Electoral College, the popular vote, and nearly all swing states when he ran against President Barack Obama four years ago — because Trump is sure to bring it up. In fact, he already has. "Mitt is a failed candidate," Trump quickly responded Thursday.

"He failed horribly. That was a race that absolutely should have been won." A big part of Trump's shtick is that he was a good soldier for the Republican establishment when Romney and John McCain were the party's nominees. They failed and now he is taking matters into his own hands.

 (It's worth recalling Romney did more than any other establishment Republican to help elevate Trump by appearing with the billionaire to accept his endorsement four years ago.)

 For Trump, this serves two purposes. It helps him bond with Republicans who are angry about their party's failure to beat Obama in legislative battles or elections. And it is a conversion story of sorts to explain why he went from being a fairly conventional moderate Northeastern Republican businessman — albeit one who has long been consumed by themes of national decline and foreigners disrespecting America — to a Tea Party populist.