Send in the clowns

It's a Donald Trump endorsement of Mitt Romney, of course:



This is not an entirely unexpected move, but an interesting one nonetheless, particularly when one considers some of Trump's previous remarks when asked about Romney:

Trump told Daily Beast columnist Meghan McCain that Romney is “going to lose” because he can’t connect with voters. “No, he’s going to lose. He doesn’t resonate, you know? Or he would have won last time, in all fairness to your father! He was scheduled to win last time, and he didn’t because your father outdid him. You understand. I watched [Romney] make a speech, and it was all these little trivial statements.”

David Weigel shoots with devastating accuracy:

Who's the winner here? I have no idea. Polling in December revealed that 31 percent of voters would be less likely to support a Trump-backed candidate, 6 percent more likely. Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, both of whom agreed to the Trump debate, can look forward to newsy questions about why Donald Trump thinks they're unelectable. (How would he know?) Nevada voters, given only four days to see candidates between Florida and the caucuses, get to watch a self-promoting birther suck the news cycle dry. And Romney, who gained something when he rejected Trump's first stump, comes off as weak and desparate.

My thoughts exactly. What more of substance can be said except that this makes me wince? One of the things that first occurred to me was Trump's early mention of China, with which he is so obviously obsessed it's almost laughable. It also became quickly apparent that Trump, an ineffably comical fellow with less-than-subtle vibes of self-centeredness, seems almost unable to take the necessary next step towards accepting that he is actually not the centre of the universe, and that his 'endorsement' may constitute more of a burden to Mitt Romney than a boost.