What if Trump gets nod?

Last summer, a lot of people I know thought Donald Trump was a joke who would implode before year’s end.

In the political world, you can get away with saying crazy and/or offensive stuff for only so long before drawing backlash.

But it’s nearly Christmas, and the billionaire business mogul is still running strong in most polls despite his controversial comments.

And that creates a quandary for Republicans who are backing other GOP candidates: What happens if Trump is the nominee?

Reporters have been asking Ohio’s GOP leaders about that possibility in recent weeks, wondering whether the establishment will line up behind Trump and his who-knows-what-he’ll-say-next tendencies.

So far, the answers coming from Ohio have been mostly diplomatic:

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges: “I talked to him ... and said it’s not a good idea to attack our governor personally — [Gov. John Kasich has] a 65 percent approval rating. None of that stuff is going to help us carry Ohio.”

Asked point blank whether he’d support Trump if nominated, Borges offered, “We’ll back whoever the nominee is, of course we will. It will be very interesting to see how this all moves forward.”

Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger: The Republican leader of the Ohio House was more open in his critique of Trump.

“I’m really concerned with Mr. Trump’s rhetoric, and I think that it’s concerning when we have a candidate like Mr. Trump that’s going out to continue to advance the rhetoric that he has,” he said. “We have serious candidates out there that we need to all be out looking at. We have serious elections coming up in ’16, so we should pay attention to those candidates that are more serious.”

KASICH COMES FIRST

Ohio Senate President Keith Faber: Faber said he would support the Republican nominee.

But, he added, “I’ll have a conversation with that nominee or make sure I understand that nominee, that he represents the principles I share. The Republican Party, for so many of us, is certainly a vehicle we enjoy, but it’s not our master. I think whoever our nominee is needs to share the values that I share and represent.”

And, “I certainly am working for somebody else to be the nominee, and my eggs are in that basket right now, and that’s John Kasich. So if John Kasich is the nominee, I’ll certainly support him, because I know he shares the values of Ohio. Do I agree with him on everything? No.

“The reality is it’s not a test of whether you agree with everything. The question is do you believe they have the leadership skills and the temper and the temperament and frankly the judgment to move this country forward in the way it needs to go. I’m pretty sure most of the Republicans running have that a darn sight better than most of the Democrats.”

Faber also had a suggestion for reporters: Go ask Democratic leaders whether they’re going to adopt the rhetoric and ideas of their presidential nominee, whether that be socialism and Bernie Sanders or some of Hillary Clinton’s positions on issues.

“I expect you guys to go out and ask the questions to the other side,” he said. “Why do you think Benghazi doesn’t matter? Why do you think lost emails are irrelevant? Can you support somebody who can’t keep classified secrets off of nonclassified emails?”

Marc Kovac is the The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.