Trump wears out welcome in GOP field

Hillary Clinton just had the best week of her rocky presidential campaign.

Now granted, the former First Lady and her two campaign sidekicks were ordered by a federal judge to pledge under oath and threat of perjury they had turned over all emails related to her time as secretary of state.

But you heard little to nothing about these worries because The Donald and Fox News captured every ounce of attention.

The GOP debate last week was watched by an astonishing 24 million viewers. But it seems I watched a completely different debate, judging from the polls gauging the winners and losers.

How anyone could believe Donald Trump won that debate is beyond my imagination. Trump was an arrogant bully, displaying in full fashion his New York thug persona in one of the most embarrassing displays imaginable.

Yes it was abundantly obvious from the very first question that the debate moderators had Trump in their bull's-eye.

But Trump mishandled each and every question with a dismissive attitude that is clearly beneath someone seeking the highest office in this land.

But much more important, once you got past the fiery rhetoric of illegal immigration, Trump was clueless on the important issues facing this country.

When asked about the Iranian general who last week traveled to Moscow, Trump looked like a deer in the headlights.

Ted Cruz -- who dominated the debate on substance -- was asked the same question and the comparison of his answer with The Donald was telling, to put it mildly.

As a conservative, I was concerned that the debate would be a sideshow because of the sheer number of candidates.

It proved to be a sideshow because of the countless Trump fiascoes.

All of this begs the question of why most polls believe Trump actually won the debate? I think there are two answers.

Trump's supporters were destined to believe he "won" regardless of the outcome. And no one else on the stage proved to be so dominant as to take the fire away from Trump.

But those are two very weak reasons to continue backing someone so far out of his league it's ridiculous.

Trump's rhetoric clearly has captured the attention of a frustrated public. His opposition to the miserable Iranian nuke deal and his insistence of building a border wall resonate with many voters.

Rhetoric will get you only so far, and Trump has worn out his welcome, in my opinion.

In one final note -- there's a conspiracy theory making its way through the Internet that the entire Trump candidacy is being engineered by none other than Bill Clinton.

The rumor has it that Clinton believes Trump will fail miserably against Hillary and thus, Clinton is the force behind the Trump curtain.

That's baloney.

Trump doesn't need Clinton. He's already his own worst enemy.

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Sikeston Standard Democrat.