Karl Rove calls Trump the "joke candidate".

If Rove says that, that says a lot about Trump's chances.

Look, if we have any sense, we should want as bloody primaries as can be arranged on the Republican side.    The more candidates stay in the race, the more money they waste and--we can hope--the more bitterness is aroused in the supporters of the eventually unsuccessful candidates.   Who may then stay home rather than support the candidate who beat their choice.

The irony of this is that, had Trump not just shot himself in the foot but actually blew the foot off by saluting the "birther" flag, he would have been a strong potential candidate.

But he has sealed his fate with this monumentally stupid maneuver.   Even Michelle Bachmann- no intellectual giant--is backing away from the "birthers".

And we should be happy he has killed his own candidacy so effectively.    Now we should hope he doesn't realize this, and runs anyway--forcing the other Republicans to waste untold sums and create lots of bitterness in the GOP in defeating him.