The GOP Establishment believed Jeb Bush was their guy. The two earlier Bush Presidents grew the government. There was no reason that a third Bush wouldn’t do the same.

Sen. Ted Cruz was not the Establishment’s pick. He would not help them fund their pet projects. When you have Bob Dole and John McCain — two presidential losers — attacking Cruz, you know it’s because they feared that Cruz would not go along to get along.

Next up it was Marco Rubio. He was part of the Gang of Eight. He, too, would cooperate. He is young and likes to please. He would be the perfect Establishment man to groom.

At first, Donald Trump came out blasting the Establishment, but the Establishment thought he was a political flash in the pan. “This, too, will pass,” they said to themselves over and over and over again.

But it didn’t happen. Trump has shown staying power. His crowds are huge and enthusiastic.

So what’s the Establishment to do? Get on board. Trump goes where the power and the money are. He’s all about “The Art of the Deal.” That’s what the GOP Establishment has always been about — making deals with Democrats.

The Democrats get a little of what they want, and the Republicans get a little bit of what they want and the voters have to pay for it.

What a deal! It’s more like “The Art of the Steal.”

Consider this:

“Bob Dole, the former Kansas senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, has never been fond of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. But in an interview Wednesday, Mr. Dole said that the party would suffer ‘cataclysmic’ and “wholesale losses” if Mr. Cruz were the nominee, and that Donald J. Trump would fare better.

“’I question his allegiance to the party,’ Mr. Dole said of Mr. Cruz. ‘I don’t know how often you’ve heard him say the word “Republican” — not very often.’ Instead, Mr. Cruz uses the word ‘conservative,’ Mr. Dole said, before offering up a different word for Mr. Cruz: ‘extremist.’

“’I don’t know how he’s going to deal with Congress,’ he said. ‘Nobody likes him.’” (H/T: New York Times)

There it is in a nutshell: “I question his allegiance to the party.” Office holders don’t take an oath to uphold the Party. They take an oath to uphold the Constitution. An “extremist” is someone who keeps that oath. There are no political parties in the Constitution, but there are laws. That’s why it’s called “the supreme law of the land” and not the “supreme law of the party.”

Look who’s supporting Trump over Cruz:

• John McCain
• Trent Lott
• Orrin Hatch

Here’s what lobbyist Charles R. Black Jr. said: “You can coach Donald. If he got nominated, he’d be scared to death. That’s the point he would call people in the party and say, ‘I just want to talk to you.’” (H/T: New York Times)

As Cruz has said, “they know he will cut a deal,” because Trump has a history of supporting Establishment Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Andrew Cuomo, and Rahm Emanuel.

The GOP Establishment believes Trump would be easier to work with on the money side of politics without having to deal with the social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage.

Dole tipped his hand with this comment: “Trump could ‘probably work with Congress, because he’s, you know, he’s got the right personality and he’s kind of a deal-maker.”

Congress is all about “The Art of the Deal,” and that’s why we are trillions of dollars in debt, and this says nothing about the massive deficit.

Why should these guys care? It’s not their money.

National Review has come out with an “Against Trump” Special Issue. This one sentence sums up Trump:

“Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the GOP in favor of a free-floating populism with strong-man overtones.”

The problem is, hardly anyone is listening to National Review. They had their chance and went semi-establishment long ago.