Trump's star predicted to fade

A political analyst predicts that billionaire Donald Trump, the current Republican frontrunner, will fail to win the GOP nomination for president. 

Tom Pauken, former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, predicts that Trump will go the GOP convention with "a lot of votes," but Pauken is unsure it will be enough to "lock up" the nomination.

"I still believe that you're going to see an alternative to Trump," he tells OneNewsNow.

Trump, 69, is still enjoying a comfortable lead in the crowded field of GOP candidates. RealClearPolitics shows Trump with a 12-point lead in an "RCP average" of six polls. 

According to the RCP figures, 29 percent of people polled chose Trump over other GOP candidates. 

Ben Carson trails in second with 17 percent and then the numbers drop into double digits, with Jeb Bush at seven percent and Sen. Ted Cruz at six percent.

A story about Trump on political website Politico notes that even Wall Street is taking Trump seriously, after he was dismissed weeks ago.

A Wall Street executive told Politico that "everyone assumed Trump would implode."

The truth, he said, is that Trump "taps into frustrations that are very real and he is a master manipulator of the media."

The Politico story also quoted an unnamed Wall Street executive and GOP supporter, who predicted that Trump won't win but is damaging the party for Hispanic and female voters.

"Everyone thinks he is a buffoon and a bombastic loudmouth who won’t be around at the end," the GOP official said of Trump. "But the concern is that he is still at 30 in the polls and he is going to hang around for a while and do a great deal of damage.”

Despite the real estate mogul's status at the moment, Pauken predicts an "alternative" to Trump will emerge in coming weeks.

Who could that be? The political analyst suggests the nominee could be Gov. John Kasich or Gov. Scott Walker – if he turns his struggling campaign around.

Sen. Cruz could emerge as the conservative alternative to Trump, he adds.

"I don't think Jeb Bush will be the alternative," Pauken observes. "I think he's in real trouble in his campaign, and Donald Trump has effectively neutered Jeb Bush."