Reading between the lines

In order to understand something better, perhaps you shouldn't consider what is explicitly said, but what explicitly isn't said.  What I mean is in the latest Krugman column.

He isn't saying it, but he'd like the GOP to fracture, and those who disagree with the Trump faction can come onboard!  Sure, the more, the merrier.  Krugman doesn't say this, but he might as well say it.

He repeats the accusation against Trump, that he is racist, and so forth.   He reminds those who disagreed with Trump-  they encourage this kind of thing, so it isn't surprising.  The GOP Establishment have lost control of the right wing, in much the same way as the Europeans have lost control over the far right.  The base of the GOP is racist, just like Trump, or so Krugman tells us.  In Europe, it isn't racism, but mere economic mismanagement that caused the political setback.  We just need more of the same old thing, the people can't see it because the management has bungled things.

Bungling isn't why they lost control.  People are questioning the substance of their leadership.  Krugman cannot defend the failed policies, so he needs to divide in order to conquer.

It's a gambit being played out in the media for the most part.  It is more likely to be safer that way.  If it were otherwise, that is, if the Dems were behind this; the GOP would catch on, and stop it before any damage was done.

It could have happened before in presidential politics.  The GOP could fall for a gambit like this.

They probably did in 1964, when LBJ had such a landslide that it brought forth the Great Society.   Part of the reason for that landslide was that Goldwater was perceived to be too dangerous because he was seen as being too extreme.  If Trump falls into this trap, he may well repeat history.  The big stumbling block for Trump is not to appear too extreme, while keeping the party together.  Reject the gambit and unite the party.

That's why Trump needs to get with the GOP Establishment and do what he claims he does best- make a deal.  He needs to unite the Party before it fractures in two and causes a catastrophic defeat.

The media would love to enable such a fracture.  As for the Dems, it cost them nothing if they just stand aside and let the media try its hand at some mischief.  They have nothing to lose, and everything to gain by having their surrogates do their dirty work for them.  Their policies surely won't win it for them.