The four candidates for the Republican presidential nomination vying to unseat Donald Trump must sharply step up their attacks on the front-runner instead of themselves or else "the chances of nominating a mainstream Republican may dissipate," GOP consultant Karl Rove said.
And the ideal opportunity for John Kasich, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio is next week's South Carolina primary.
"Messrs. Kasich, Cruz, Bush and Rubio must resist the temptation to go after one another — which only wastes vital time — and instead concentrate fire on Mr. Trump," Rove wrote Wednesday in an op-ed piece in
The Wall Street Journal. "South Carolina is a great venue to pop him on defense spending and healthcare.
"They must also bring up the front-runner’s greatest weakness: Americans have never elected a serial bankrupt. Populist South Carolinians may not understand why, when Mr. Trump's companies went under, such a wealthy man didn’t dip into his fortune to do right by the people who were hurt."
Trump is also vulnerable on his "claim to be a great businessman," Rove said.
"His casinos never reported a profit. The only person who may have made big money on them was The Donald, when he sold.
"So far Mr. Trump's response to the bankruptcy charge has been that he 'took advantage of the laws,'" Rove continued.
"Thoroughly airing the issue will provide an opportunity for him to give a better answer — or for Republicans to decide they don’t want a nominee with such baggage."