Wednesday, August 24, 2016

The Trump Campaign Isn't Pivoting, It's Melting.

Donald Trump has come to the conclusion that his heartlessness on immigration won't fly in the general election. So, obfuscating while hiding behind a "wall" will work?

Okay, I got nuthin'. So sue me...

Step one: Hire a new campaign team. Step two: Admit that your immigration scheme has alienated Latinos, Asians, Muslims, you name it. Step three: Say "We're going to build the wall" really loud but we're going to be "humane," "softened," we're going "to be determined."

Josh Marshall notices that this is not working, but it might be all Trump's got:
His policy of mass expulsion is toxic for a general election audience. Abandoning the centerpiece policy of his campaign is equally unworkable. It doesn't pass a laugh test and it would trigger revolt among his closest supporters. In the end, though, it's Trump and his campaign that sound most confused, brainstorming on the public airwaves some way to square a circle that seems impossible to square. Tonight's speech indicates the plan is to double down on the wall, simply ignore mass expulsion, say Hillary wants the country to be overrun by brown hordes.
It's seldom good when a campaign's supporters can't figure out where the campaign stands on a given issue. It's never good when the campaign itself can't figure out where the campaign stands on a given issue. It's seems ridiculous and adrift.
There's always a temptation with the Trump campaign to uncover some strategy behind what seems on the surface to be scattered, erratic or foolish. But Trump's Razor counsels against this. The truth is the Trump team has no idea what they're doing. Pundits may need a few days to unravel this. But this is at best simply an effort to play for time.
It's the same with his "new" approach to African-Americans: Your lives suck, you existing in a living Hell in inner cities, blah, blah, blah, vote for me, you decrepit losers. Marshall calls this the "Trump African-American Outreach Train." Sounds about right.

Meanwhile, Reince Priebus says that, because of Trump's new "measured" tone, he'll be "tied or ahead" by Labor Day. Yeah, right.

Third-party candidate Gary Johnson said he'd give up marijuana during the presidential campaign. That's all well and good, but it appears that some in the Trump campaign and the RNC have taken up the habit in his stead.


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