Donald Trump is Out -- Today is a Great Day for Republicans (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Donald Trump has decided to step down as the moderator of the Dec. 27 Republican debate, according to Fox News. As a political consultant, I see this as one of the most momentous days of the year for Republicans. A major crisis has been averted, and the GOP can finally focus on President Barack Obama and not Trump.

Trump has done everything he can to insert himself into politics this year. We all remember how the political world was held hostage over the reality star's exploration of political aspirations, which ended when he continued to harp on the birther argument. After that plan failed, he began to meet with each of the Republican candidates as if he were the "Conservative Godfather." His latest attempt was to moderate the Newsmax debate.

What was being referred to as "Trump's Debate" was less about having the candidates explain their ideas and ideals to the American people and more about kissing up to the rich man moderating. This debate would decide who would get The Donald's backing. At least most of the candidates realized the circus atmosphere involved and declined to participate.

Now that he has backed out himself, the Republicans can stop focusing on the man in the tower they think they need to impress and focus on the man in the White House they have to beat. Trump was a distraction to the final goal and was doing more damage to the party as a whole than adding anything to any particular candidate. The one-man "Occupy GOP" movement appears to be over.

Of course, like the attention-demanding man he is, he dealt one more potential blow before completely going away. Trump continues the thought he might run for the presidency if he does not like the candidate getting the Republican nod. He gives one more strike to shake up the party he claims to be a part of since logic would dictate how an extra conservative person on the ticket would take votes from the Republicans and help President Obama.

With the Trump Debate officially out of the way, Republicans can battle about how they would improve the party. They can argue over how they could improve the economy and set the country straight. They can give points explaining how they would defeat President Obama instead of debating which out would make a better lap dog for the real estate mogul.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111213/pl_ac/10672963_donald_trump_is_out__today_is_a_great_day_for_republicans

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