On July 4th Weekend 2015, the TOP GOP Presidential Candidate nationally is >>> Wait for it ! >>> DONALD TRUMP

"That Was the Week That Was"  —   A very good week for Donald Trump

In the early going, Trump shows that he is far more than an “APPRENTICE”  —   especially when compared to the rest of the Republican candidates for President

Pundits, Pollsters and Donald Trump himself proclaim the master builder to be the GOP candidate that is leading the rest of the Republican field

According an article appearing in “The Telegraph,” which was also touted by the Drudge Report, “... for Donald Trump the inveterate showman and Republican challenger for president, the week was a triumph as he climbed in the opinion polls and dominated media coverage, despite the backlash against his decision to condemn Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug traffickers....”  (See “Republicans cast into turmoil as Donald Trump rides the populist surge” by Philip Sherwell, 7/5/15, The Telegraph [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/republicans/11718563/Republicans-cast-into-turmoil-as-Donald-Trump-rides-the-populist-surge.html]).

DONALD TRUMP AND “THE TELEGRAPH” CITE “HUFFINGTON POST” AND SOME POLLING DATA SHOWING TRUMP WITH AN EARLY LEAD

Philip Sherwell’s “Telegraph” article in the went on to quote Donald Trump, as well as describe the following polling data: “....   ‘Wow, Huffington Post just stated that I am number one in the polls of Republican candidates,’ the brash billionaire bragged as the week closed, citing the liberal media outlet that has been a platform for many of the strongest attacks on him. ‘Thank you, but the work has just begun!’...    Mr Trump was touting his first place in an average of 105 polls. Of the 14 candidates who have declared, Trump topped the field with 13.6 per cent support to 13.3 per cent for Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and son and brother of two past presidents....”

EVEN GOOD COVERAGE CONTAINS SOME SHARP BARBS FOR “THE DONALD”

But every silver lining usually has a storm cloud wrapped around it.  And Sherwell’s generally favorable article for Mr. Donals Trump is no exception  —  “For Donald Trump the entrepreneur, it was a damaging week. Two major television networks severed ties, Macy’s dropped his clothing line and Carlos Slim, the even richer Mexican tycoon, ended a joint venture with him....”  —   AND  —   catch this bit: “The property mogul, reality television star and beauty pageant owner with the most flamboyant comb-over in public life may seem like a caricature and a political joke....”

REPUBLICAN BIG-WIGS WANT TO GIVE TRUMP A VERY QUICK “YOU'RE FIRED !”  AS THEY SEE HIM BEING MORE AKIN TO SOMETHING ON  THE “FEAR FACTOR” THAN SOME NEWBY FROM “THE APPRENTICE”

“.... [T]he Republican hierarchy is not laughing as [Trump] rides an anti-establishment populist tide, shooting from the hip with his overheated rhetoric. They are concerned not because they think he has a chance of securing the nomination but because they fear he could influence the election by scarring the party’s reputation....  ‘Donald Trump is like watching a roadside accident,’ Ari Fleischer, a former spokesman for George W Bush, told Politico. ‘Everybody pulls over to see the mess. And Trump thinks that’s entertainment. But running for president is serious. And the risk for the party is that he tarnishes everybody.’...   Mr Fleischer was a co-author of the party’s post-mortem into the 2012 presidential election defeat. That soul-searching concluded that the Republicans needed to broaden their appeal to younger voters, women and crucially the demographic of Hispanics....   Mr Fleischer’s old boss won 40 per cent of the Latino vote in 2004[, but] Mitt Romney took just 27 per cent eight years later. The party fears efforts to reverse that trend will be set back by Mr Trump’s comments, especially if his poll rating secures him a place at the first televised debate next month....  The Trump candidacy is playing up strains between Tea Party activists and senior party figures, with Mr Fleischer adding that his comments were irresponsible and ‘hurtful.’...   And John Weaver, an adviser on John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, noted: ‘I remember growing up in Kermit [Texas], every time the carnival came to town it drew a big crowd. But nobody wanted the carnival barker to be mayor.’...”

FOR ONE BRIEF SHINING MOMENT ON THIS JULY 4th HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Regardless of all the hand-wringing and nay-saying by the big gray tusky set that thinks it controls the GOP brand  —   the Republican Party, the competing GOP candidates for president and even Donald Trump  —  all find that Mr. Trump is at or very near the “Front of the Pack.”  However, given the fact that there are twenty or so candidates in the GOP field, “Top of the Heap” might be more apt.