Private Memo Details Republican Plan If Trump is Nominated

A key Republican operative outlined in a private memo in September how GOP Senate candidates should respond if Donald Trump wins the party’s nomination.

In a seven-page memo obtained by the Washington Post, Ward Baker, head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, says the party “should prepare for 2016, by understanding the environment and recognizing the Trump phenomenon.”

The letter goes on to suggest a series of tactics GOP Senate candidates should take to both capitalize on Trump’s success and distance themselves from his more controversial rhetoric. It begins by saying that “Trump is a misguided missile” and urging candidates to “not be tied to him so closely that we have to engage in permanent cleanup or distancing maneuvers.”