The “Morning Joe” panel this morning was filled with a fierce urgency about how Republicans need to take on Trump, that this is a key test for the other presidential candidates, etc., etc.

I’m not sure that this makes much sense. Let’s consider candidates representing the poles of the establishment-grass roots spectrum of the party, Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz.

Why would Bush want to take on Trump? The mogul is presumably not poaching many voters from him and instead is suppressing the candidates on the populist right. So this isn’t really Bush’s problem.

How about Cruz? It is indeed a problem for him, as Jim Geraghty wrote the other day. Trump is fishing in his pond, and doing it with a hand grenade. If Trump just gets, say, 10 or 15 percent in Iowa, it could be very damaging for the Texan.

But it would be foolish of Cruz to frontally take on Trump at the moment because: 1) Cruz can’t afford to alienate Trump supporters he will need to win over; 2) Cruz’s brand is based on taking courageous stands and, for now, Trump is a symbol of anti-establishmentarian courage for some conservatives; 3) Trump is presumably at his zenith or near it, and it never pays to try to take on someone at the height of his strength, unless you have no choice; and, finally and relatedly, 4) Cruz should have faith that his candidacy is built to last in ways that Trump’s isn’t.

This last point gets to a broader one about Trump. It is unlikely that all the rules have been suspended and a WWE-style smashmouth politics is the key to winning the Republican nomination. Trump can be expected to step in it in ways that disappoint his fervent admirers, and make other mistakes that hurt his candidacy. The other candidates shouldn’t be panicking over him in July 2015.

As far as the party’s interests in the long term, Neal Freeman made a key point about Trump the other day, assuming he fades:

The question will then become: Will he go quietly? Or is he lugging around what gives every appearance of being a third-party-sized ego? Will he play the sore loser, do Hillary still another favor, and try to bust up the game he just lost?
I don’t know, but here’s a suggestion for those of you currently bemused by the Trump candidacy: Ask him now if he will commit to supporting the nominee of the party whose leadership he seeks. If he won’t commit, kick him off the debate stage.