GUEST EDITORIAL: Woe-is-us GOP should heed advice on backing Trump

EDITOR’S NOTE: This guest editorial is from the Lakeland Ledger, a Daily News sister paper with GateHouse Media.

On Thursday the Republican Party’s top dogs — presidential front-runner Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan — met to see if they can hash out some kind of accord that, some say, will be critical to saving the party itself — or perhaps saving the party from itself.

But as this latest brouhaha involving Trump and his relationship with GOP pols was blowing up news and blogger websites all over the Internet, U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross of Lakeland offered his fellow Republicans some terse advice: Listen to the voters and get with Trump.

“Trust me, I haven’t been on the Donald Trump bandwagon, but I will support him …,” Ross told Politico. “I think it’s time we unite (and) … extend an olive branch and start working this out.”

Ross continued: “I’m listening: They’re fed up with Washington politicians. And unfortunately I think there are some in my party who don’t get what is happening.”

Believe us, Trump can give you plenty of reasons not to like him. We understand that. Watching him steamroll his opponents with combination of soul-piercing insults, unbridled machismo and vague policy prescriptions has been like watching a mile-long train of oil tankers derail in slow motion: you know something volatile and dangerous is happening but are powerless to stop it, or find someone who can.

But for all his flaws, Trump has run the voting gauntlet and come out the lone survivor. And he overcame a Republican field that was unprecedented in both its size and experience.

Which makes Ross’ observation about heeding the voters’ expression of their frustration something the Republican bigwigs ought to contemplate at great length before they dismiss Trump outright.

Dennis Ross seems to believe the party and Trump can come together and to understand that the Republicans have more to lose by thumbing their noses at Trump. Those who disagree with Ross should understand if they cede the White House to Hillary Clinton because they despise The Donald that in two or four years they’ll have three fingers pointing back at them when they point to who should shoulder the blame for the Republican demise.