The Donald’s Gifts for Jeb Bush...Ross Douthat

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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/opinion/sunday/ross-douthat-the-donalds-gifts-for-jeb-bush.html?rref=opinion&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&pgtype=article&_r=0

The Donald’s Gifts for Jeb Bush

AUG. 1, 2015


Ross Douthat

THE most important question of the moment, as the Republican Party prepares for the first of 1,162 or so presidential primary debates, isn’t really what Donald Trump will say or do on stage.

O.K., that might be the most immediately interesting question, and the best reason for people who aren’t professionally required to watch every single G.O.P. debate to tune in on Thursday night.

But what matters most, politically, about the “I Am Trump” spectacle isn’t what the Donald does but whom he helps. Trump won’t be the Republican nominee, but the eventual nominee may end up owing him a debt of gratitude for services rendered along the way.

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