Donald Trump as an Early Ronald Reagan

Donald Trump has apparently done it again. He has again said something so outrageous that he had to walk back the comment---this walk back was in record time and in the manner of a formal statement.

The comment was, of course, that he would punish women who had abortions, which was made by the self-proclaimed tough dealmaker during rapid-fire questioning from the non-dealmaker Chris Matthews.

The latest gaffe even seems to have Trump's loyal supporter, who should be running the campaign, Roger Stone, down.

It also is hurting him in the polls, with some showing him now down 10 points in Wisconsin against the Cruz Missile.

Trump's gaffes and resulting walkbacks remind me of the pseudo-libertarian Ronald Reagan in the campaign he lost for the Republican nomination against Gerald Ford, before Reagan's handlers learned how to keep Reagan on message four years later and away from dangerous questioning.

Murray Rothbard observed at the time in the June 1978 issue of The Libertarian Forum about the early Reagan, who lost to Ford:

Ronnie has shown the same self-destructive streak that Goldwater did in 1964: making highly controversial comments in an offhand manner which he then quickly repudiates when criticism hits the fan. In doing so, he not only scares his natural opponents, but also confuses his supporters, since his rapid retractions indicate that yes, he was being kooky and irresponsible. At every critical  turning point in the primary campaign, Reagan managed to blow it with a particulalrly ill directed gaffe.

Thank you, Murray.

 -RW