Every liberal newspaper in the country — every single one — is having a field day making Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump look as if he is the devil incarnate. Are we surprised? No.

Here’s what liberals do when they are fearful that someone may threaten their way of thinking: call names, create lies and try to talk louder than anyone else.

Granted, Trump can make that a lot easier just because of his shoot-and-ask-questions later personality. But here’s what Democrats fear most about Trump: he’s not your typical politician. In fact, he’s not a politician at all, which is what most Americans like about him.

Trump says what nearly everybody thinks, but is too fearful or polite to say. He says it in a rough and coarse way, which deserves rebuke, but rebuke wouldn’t be necessary if other, housebroken politicians had the courage to say the things he says in a softer way.

Though he is not a politician, Trump is human, so he has character and personality flaws as much as the next person. If we were hoping to put an individual in the White House whose character was as flawless as Billy Graham’s, then nobody on the ballot would stand a chance.

The latest attack on Trump, even from within the GOP, came when The Donald skipped the recent debate by Fox. But we see no reason to take aim at him for that decision. After all, he’s the front-runner. What did he have to prove participating in a second Fox debate that surely would have turned into another firing squad against him?

Even Ronald Reagan skipped a debate, and we’ve venture to say he will be remembered as one of this country’s greatest presidents.

Is Trump another Reagan? No, not by a long shot. But as the front-runner, he is in the driver’s seat, and any debates now will only sort out those who should have dropped out long ago — like the Rand Pauls, Chris Christies, Mike Huckabees, Ben Carsons and Carly Fiorinas. Even the campaigns of Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush are teetering on worthiness. They all should begin to give their support to some who can actually win — though that won’t be hard against Hillary Clinton.

We realize that Nov. 8 is still a good distance in the future, and the heat of the current “exchange of views” suggests that the debate will continue to rage with fire and no doubt brimstone — much of it aimed at Trump. Such is the daily agenda for a front-runner.

What we hope is that Trump continues to address issues the American people see as important, but begins to add a tone of compassion and civility to the discussions and solutions. Do we want him to become a polished politician? Absolutely not. Just a little less knee-jerk and more thoughtful.

The Republican elites should step up to the challenge of confronting the issues that terrify them, and quit trying to play a gentleman’s game by ladies’ rules.

As far as we are concerned, the only question left in the race for the White House is: Who will Trump’s vice president be?

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.”