As predicted, polling shows Romney speech only solidified Trump's support

As we've discussed previously, Mitt Romney's attack on Donald Trump was as transparently hypocritical as it was misguided. Here was a two-time failed candidate levying a series of charges against Trump - most of which Harry Reid had previously used against Romney himself. It was the weakest of cheap shots. Within a day it became clear to anyone who was watching the 2016 election that the speech had succeeded only in that it further divided the GOP or strengthened Trump's position. It was, to be blunt, a grotesque miscalculation.

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Now we know that what we assumed during that first day is indeed true. Romney's diatribe has failed to sway most Republicans, while strengthening the resolve of the Trump faithful. From Morning Consult:

Thirty-one percent of GOP voters said they were more likely to vote for Trump, while 20 percent said less likely, and 43 percent said it had no impact either way. The poll, which was conducted March 4 through March 6, also finds that only five percent of Trump supporters said they are now less likely to vote for Trump. And, of those who voted for Romney in 2012, 30 percent said they were more likely to vote for Trump, compared to 20 percent who said less likely. Nearly half (48 percent) said it wouldn’t affect their vote either way.

Now, I'm sure there are those who will say "yeah, but 20% are now less likely." The problem is that, while that might be the case, most of that 20% was already leaning toward someone else in the first place. The bottom line is, 74% of respondents said that Romney's anti-Trump lecture was either meaningless or made them more likely to vote for the man it was designed to destroy. ...And if the speech was designed to dissuade people who were already supporting Trump, it failed in spectacular fashion.

As predicted, polling shows Romney speech only solidified Trump's support The survey also shows GOP voters slightly prefer Trump to Romney: The brash New Yorker has a 55-42 favorability rating, compared to a 51-41 split for the former Massachusetts governor.

In other words, if you were already against him, you're more against him now. If you were already for him, you're probably more "for him" now. Trump's "unfavorable" ratings are still dangerously high, but the fact is that - if this was to be the establishment's mission statement - it was soundly rejected. That's to no one's surprise. If the GOP elites were intending to fight Trump with all the anemia they mustered against Obama, it was always going to turn out this way.