A friend says: What I haven’t seen mentioned by the numerous pundits commenting on the Saturday night Republican debate is the possibility that Trump’s performance was oriented toward the general election.

His calling out the boo birds in the audience as being donors, could just as easily be affixed to Hillary Clinton. By pointing to his opposition to the war in Iraq, he has positioned himself to the left of Clinton, and leaves him able to attack her judgment just as Barack Obama did in 2008. By opposing intervention in Libya and Syria he further differentiates himself from Clinton who was the leading proponent of attacking Libya and also supports a no fly zone and action to get rid of Assad.

By making clear that he won’t cut entitlements or medicare he takes away an argument that the Democrats have effectively used against Republicans. In 2012 they ran an ad with Paul Ryan pushing an old woman in a wheelchair off a cliff.

By supporting Planned Parenthood although not abortion, he certainly does not come off as a religious extremist or fundamentalist which is what Cruz and Rubio would do. That does lock down between 20-25 of the electorate but repels the rest. Trump has differentiated himself from them.

Bill Clinton was a big backer of NAFTA. Trump made a point of how Carrier is closing its Indianapolis air conditioning manufacturing plant and eliminating 1400 American jobs and moving the plant to Monterrey, Mexico. This makes Clinton extremely vulnerable on economic issues. Is she going to repudiate her wall street backers and her husband? If she doesn’t, she leaves the field open to Trump to being the only candidate concerned about American workers.

Again, these issues may alienate some of the Republicans. The Saturday primary will show how much, but if Trump can still win and finish with around 35%, the other Republicans and their donors will be exposed as proponents of a dead end presidential strategy. In other words, their ideas cannot get them elected, only sharp disgust with the present administration might and right now that isn’t enough to carry the day.