I have a novel take on what is going on here and I just want to let all of the Trump people and those worried about Rand taking this approach as to why this is a risky, albeit necessary move.
The primary issue that people have with Rand is that, if you'll pardon the expression, they think he's a complete wimp. As much as I utterly detest Frank Luntz, those idiots in his focus group talking about boots on the ground in Iraq are the average, rank and file GOP voter. They like Rand on economics, but they literally think he has no balls at all. Trump's appeal is little more than the old cliche that every woman loves the alpha male , and every man admires the alpha male. Trump has appeal because he is oozing massive amounts of testosterone, all of this crap about immigration, building a wall, and all that other nonsense is incidental, even and including the case of Ann Coulter, who seems to have actually discovered her womanhood over Trump's ascendancy.
Now, likewise consider that everybody unwilling to take on Trump in that debate also looked like wimps, particularly Sgt. Stutter (Bush). Trump isn't going down in the polls because nobody has the testicular fortitude to stand nose to nose with the guy, Lindsey Graham is a closeted drag-queen that everybody laughs at save John McCain and a few Democrats that he pals around with, and Rick Perry is a cross between a dunce-cap toting fool and the court jester, aka the guy no one will take seriously. None of these people have the credibility to be effectual in hitting Trump and come off as male feminists while doing so, and the rest are largely laying low like good little beta males hoping that the alpha stumbles so they can pick up his crumbs.
In light of all this, Rand has the opportunity to become the alpha by taking down Trump, and if he does so, the rest of the pack will be forced to come after him and all eyes will be on him. The biggest risk is that if Rand succeeds early, he may peak too soon, but eventually somebody has to put an end to this nonsense, and given the blackout going on against Rand, it's a risk worth taking.
To everybody else, the pro-Trump people like jj and AuH20 are not criticizing Rand because he's actually flipping on anything, they are criticizing Rand because he's not spewing liquid testosterone out of his mouth like Trump has. This whole "build a wall and make Mexico pay for it" and "no more immigration period" thing requires ZERO thought, but it does require balls. These 2 and the others will fall in line if Paul demonstrates that he has both balls and brains, the latter department Trump has in a noticeable deficit, provided he is successful of course.
