Bob Collins
The chances are pretty good that the Donald Trump campaign will, at some point, implode. As E.J. Dionne pointed out in his weekly column in the Washington Post — and as he will likely repeat when I interview him this morning when I fill in for Kerri Miller — his support is inflated by the fact that there are so many Republican candidates.
But, Dionne says, the polls show more Republicans are against Trump than for him. We’ll see in due course.
These presidential campaigns have a way of working themselves out via the will of the people without the intervention of the St. Paul City Council, which today this week will vote on a resolution aimed at Trump.
A proposed resolution will declare Trump is unwelcome in St. Paul because of his anti-Muslim statements that have inspired his flock.
It’s not often the St. Paul City Council gets noticed outside the confines of the Capital City, but this is the exception.
“As a lifelong resident of the State of Minnesota, I am appalled that you would even consider banning a Presidential Candidate from the City!” Kari Miller writes in one of emails attached to the resolution on the Council’s website. “It is absolutely absurd to think that you have the power to ban a law-abiding, tax-paying, American citizen! Mr. Trump has every RIGHT to visit the City of St. Paul as any other citizen or visitor!”
The Star Tribune editorializes against the resolution today. It says a resolution criticizing Trump’s column is spot on, but saying he’s unwelcome goes too far.
Saying that the GOP presidential candidate is “not welcomed’’ in the city reminds this page of some of the protests that have erupted at U.S. universities — including the University of Minnesota — when administrators or students have said speakers with certain views should not be allowed to appear on campus. Free speech is a constitutional right — no matter how much that speech might be loathed by some.
“We don’t have any authority to kick him out, but we’ll send a strong message that that sort of bigotry isn’t accepted here,” council member Dai Thao told the Strib last week. “We won’t stand by to let him try to divide our community.”
Related: How Donald Trump took the Republican Party by storm (CNN)
Doris Kearns Goodwin on Trump:
