The Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes is one of my favorite political analysts, and despite his early and obvious repulsion with all things Trump, his analysis here is fact-based and smart. I offer it to you in part, but recommend it in its entirety.

Excerpted from Believing the Unbelievable, March 20, 2016, by Stephen F. Hayes

~ First, they asked us to believe Trump was a conservative. But that argument couldn’t survive a cursory look at his background, and it falls apart further with nearly every policy pronouncement Trump makes.

Then they said he was antiestablishment. But Trump financed the establishment of both parties for years and is now telling anyone who will listen that he intends to go establishment once he gets the Republican nomination.

Then they asked us to look past his boorishness and promised he’d tone it down as the process went on. But Trump continued his subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) race-baiting and lately has encouraged violence against those who protest at his rallies. And when his supporters answered his call, he defended their actions and once again raised the possibility that he’d pay the legal fees of offenders.

They promised he’d surround himself with the very best people. But Trump’s campaign manager manhandled a female reporter, and when Trump was asked last week to make good on his promise to name his foreign policy advisers, he said: “I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things. .  .  . My primary consultant is myself, and I have a good instinct for this stuff.”

…(Now this is the big pitch from Trump World:) Trump will crush Hillary Clinton in a general election… (a) feat (that) is, well, improbable.

Hillary Clinton has beaten Donald Trump in 43 of the past 49 head-to-head national polls. 67% of American voters have a negative view of Trump, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll out last week, and 56% say their view is “strongly” unfavorable. His favorable rating is at 30%, giving him a net favorable rating of negative 37. That’s not only the lowest rating of any candidate in the 2016 race, it’s among the lowest ratings seen in modern history.

Clinton has abysmal honest/trustworthy ratings; Trump’s are lower—in some cases nearly twice as bad as Clinton’s… And, importantly, the more voters have seen of him, the worse he’s looked. His numbers in all of those categories have declined since September, in some cases markedly.

A separate Washington Post poll released in late January found that nearly 7 in 10 Americans say that the idea of a Trump presidency gives them “anxiety.” For Clinton, it’s 5 in 10. (51% say they’re “very” anxious about Trump; 35% say the same of Clinton.)…