Meet the press, Mr. Trump. It’s now between the grown-ups. by Syed Doha

Trump needs to pivot – fast and furious. Can he do it?

“Why do you watch the Sunday talk shows all the time?” asked my son Kashmir Doha, when he was about 8-year-old – he is now 16. Kashmir, youngest of my three outstandingly brilliant children has a way to ask questions that are in-depth, simply.

My "not so grown-up answer" was a simple -  “that’s what the grown-ups do, Kaz.”

Much later I owed it to myself to add some substance to my answer and gathered all my children to explain why I believe that one of the long lasting institutions in American politics known as “Sunday Talk Shows” - such as NBC's "Meet the Press", "Fox News Sunday", "Face the Nation" et al – is must-see TV for many Americans that identify themselves as grown-ups – albeit arbitrarily.

On another Sunday, I started by asking all three of my children to take a note of the ads that run during those talk shows, before the shows started and at the end of that Sunday’s line-up asked them to name the companies that ran their ads during the commercial breaks.

“Boeing”, “Dassault”, “Kerr-McGee” were among the ones they wrote down.

I went on to explain to them that “Kerr-McGee” sells products that are not at all consumer products and cost millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars apiece.

Likewise, an everyday American is not going to pick up the phone and order a Boeing 737 or call Dassault for a Falcon 50.

I basically told them that these companies run the ads during Sunday Talk shows because Many of the decision makers in the U.S. from commercial to political to academic institutions are known to be amongst the regular audience of those shows.

Mr. Trump so far had to deal with a press and/or media that is apprentice-like – no pun intended.

But that has suddenly changed yesterday and “now” is that proverbial “pivotal moment” for Trump presidency.

I am actually surprised at the sudden awakening of the grown-ups at the Republican party. But then again this is what makes America great. Regardless of political rancor that existed and will exist in American politics, the grown-ups have by and large denied presidency to a brash campaign full of divisive monologues, bigotry and demagoguery that is like Mr. Trump’s.

But runaway truck that is Trump campaign doesn’t have a working brake to stop itself anytime soon.

Trump can still win GOP nomination outright but more likely, through a contested convention. However, he needs change very quickly. He needs to fire his campaign manager and blame him for all the positions he has taken that leads the party’s chair to even suggest that GOP can and will nominate someone who hasn’t even declared a formal candidacy.

We were looking for that in-depth answer to our simple question, “how can you stop Trump?”

And we got it through a simple question during Last Sunday’s lineup of Sunday Talk shows.

Meet the press, Mr. Trump – the one for the grown-ups.

N.B. My phrase “Meet the press” doesn’t refer to NBC’s show – I am using it as literally as it appears.