Trump's changes coming too late? Republicans worrying

[webfact]

Trump's changes coming too late? Republicans worrying
By JULIE PACE and STEVE PEOPLES

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans increasingly fear Donald Trump is missing valuable opportunities to build a winning case against Hillary Clinton, compounding their concerns about his campaign's day-to-day decision making and seeming lack of preparedness for the general election.

While Clinton presses a highly coordinated effort to cast Trump as a reckless, self-serving businessman, he has spent the past few weeks mired in controversies of his own making. Among them: assailing a judge's Mexican heritage, asserting that President Barack Obama sympathized with terrorists after the Orlando nightclub attacks, and trying to explain away his campaign's dismal fundraising.

He's also facing backlash for heading to Scotland to promote a golf resort later in this week in the midst of one of the most tumultuous stretches of his White House bid.

"People who are serious about running for president, don't run off to Scotland where there are no votes," said Rick Tyler, who previously advised Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's presidential campaign. Tyler said Trump's Scotland trip was one more example of the businessman failing to "understand the political beat" and the need to drive a consistent message against his Democratic rival.

Trump is making some moves this week aimed at steadying his campaign.

On Monday, he ousted controversial campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who was seen as an impediment to efforts to run a more traditional operation. On Tuesday, he sent out his first fundraising email. And on Wednesday, he'll deliver a speech focused on what he describes as Clinton's "failed policies and bad judgment."

But with just over four months until Election Day, some Republicans fear the changes — if they hold — could be too little, too late. They point to Republican Mitt Romney's failed 2012 campaign, which was far better funded and organized than Trump's, but struggled against a massive Democratic messaging machine through the summer and never recovered.

"You have to build these narratives now. That's what's going to define the rest of the message in the campaign," said Spencer Zwick, Romney's fundraising chief in the 2012 campaign.

To be sure, Trump has hardly ignored Clinton. He's blasted her "politically correct" response to the Orlando shootings and offered a point-by-point rebuttal on Twitter Tuesday to her hard-charging economic speech aimed at discrediting the Republican's business credentials. Trump had planned to give his address on Clinton last week but delayed it until Wednesday because of the nightclub attacks.

But with Trump's campaign nearly broke, he hasn't booked any advertising to amplify any of those messages in battleground states. Clinton's campaign and Democratic allies, meanwhile, have invested at least $41 million for commercials in states including Ohio, Florida and Nevada over the next six weeks.

Republicans have also grumbled that Trump's controversies have overshadowed real weaknesses for Clinton, including a scathing State Department report on her email practices and a grim jobs report that could undermine her case for sticking with President Barack Obama's economic agenda.

Some Republicans are also baffled by Trump's decision to head overseas later this week — not to burnish his foreign policy credentials or meet with world leaders, but to attend the opening of one of his golf resort.

"It's an unusual campaign, and it continues to be an unusual campaign," Sen. John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, said Tuesday. "In every sense of the word."

Democrats, too, have expressed surprise at Trump's messaging missteps in the general election campaign, particularly given his effectiveness against his Republican rivals in the party's primary.

"He defined his opponents before they could define him," said Ben LaBolt, a former Obama adviser. "In many ways Clinton is moving to turn the tables on him right now."

Trump allies cast Lewandowski's firing this week as the start of a new phase for the campaign. The campaign formally announced the hiring of four staffers Tuesday, and campaign chairman Paul Manafort signaled on a conference call with aides that a rapid expansion would be coming soon.

Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker, who has been mentioned as a potential vice presidential pick, said he was "pretty excited" to learn of the changes.

"I think that what appears to be occurring over the last 24 hours is a movement in a direction that I think could be very, very positive," Corker said.

Manafort has been tasked with running the campaign but the influence of Trump's children has steadily grown in recent months. The children — Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner — played a key role in Lewandowski's ouster and have taken a larger role in shaping the candidate's speeches, including his scheduled takedown of Hillary Clinton on Wednesday.

But as with everything involving Trump, the billionaire appears to be the only one truly in charge.

"I think I want to be who I am. I don't want to be a phony like Hillary Clinton," he told NBC's "Today," ''I want to be what I am."

___

AP writers Erica Werner, Jill Colvin and Jonathan Lemire contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-06-22

[Buzzz]

Trumps angry voters. Why so angry?

Trumps supporters are skewed toward, white, uneducated, poor. Low wage earners.

The single best predictor of a Trump supporter is they didn't attend college.

In other words, a bunch of lazy dummies that have reached retirement age, broke, & want to blame everybody else for their poor planning.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Buzzz

[Mosha]

A friend still hasn't decided who he will vote for, he will however be covering his nose when he does vote.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

[boomerangutang]

Colonel Mansoor, former executive officer to General Petreus. He's voted Republican since high school, but now plans to vote for HRC. Hear his sage reasons:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pinpto1NzMQ#t=94.704975

As for Trump going to Scotland to tend to his golf course, that's fine. Message to Donald: Don't let those horrible leftie journalists tell you what to do. You do whatever you want. You're worth 'many many billions of dollars' and you've always been your own man. Go to Scotland, go anywhere. Speak you mind. Don't self-censure, don't hold back. We love you the way you are. Make American Grate Great Again!

[Pinot]

I wonder how many of his self hating, working poor white supporters will be sending Trump money from their government assistance checks?

Dumpster fire? Naaa, all is well.

[stevenl]

On top of all this, Trump has been using his own companies for his campaign. 4.6 million to his airline, rent to Trump Tower Commercial, he bough wine from one of his sons, paid for an event at his golf course in Miami, etc. etc. All in all about 6 million.

All those expenses may in themselves be legit, but they certainly do not give an impression of somebody who is above board in his dealings.

[Pinot]

20% of Donald Trump’s campaign spending goes to Donald Trump.

[Berkshire]

20% of Donald Trump’s campaign spending goes to Donald Trump.

When all this is over, after Trump gets buried in the general, he's going to go back to his business much wealthier. His entire campaign is going to be just like Trump University. His dumber-than-nails supporters will get nothing for their efforts while Trump makes piles of money from campaign contributions that will end up in his pocket. Pretty slick.

[elgordo38]

Trumps angry voters. Why so angry?

Trumps supporters are skewed toward, white, uneducated, poor. Low wage earners.

The single best predictor of a Trump supporter is they didn't attend college.

In other words, a bunch of lazy dummies that have reached retirement age, broke, & want to blame everybody else for their poor planning.

Gee socialists supporting a Republican candidate how novel.

[slipperylobster]

I wonder how many of his self hating, working poor white supporters will be sending Trump money from their government assistance checks?

Dumpster fire? Naaa, all is well.

Hillary supporters don't have a clue..eh?

They pretty much lost touch with reality....

Right now, they are thinking Hillary is a good deal..lol.

You got it all wrong..as usual.

The liberals (Democrats) are into the food stamp/welfare/handout syndrome.

Watch your scientists (lol) jumping up and down on cars and buses...in frustration.

Been all over the news.. mobs of idiots.

Worse than that...she has not even cleared her legal dilemma yet. FBI report coming up soon...lol

Edited June 22, 2016 by slipperylobster

[elgordo38]

On top of all this, Trump has been using his own companies for his campaign. 4.6 million to his airline, rent to Trump Tower Commercial, he bough wine from one of his sons, paid for an event at his golf course in Miami, etc. etc. All in all about 6 million.

All those expenses may in themselves be legit, but they certainly do not give an impression of somebody who is above board in his dealings.

All these expenses are registered as loans to be paid out of future donations. It makes him look good like everything he does and says. This guy does not give away anything period.

[anotheruser]

On top of all this, Trump has been using his own companies for his campaign. 4.6 million to his airline, rent to Trump Tower Commercial, he bough wine from one of his sons, paid for an event at his golf course in Miami, etc. etc. All in all about 6 million.

All those expenses may in themselves be legit, but they certainly do not give an impression of somebody who is above board in his dealings.

Just an honest question. If he has been basically self financing his own campaign why shouldn't he leverage the assets he has?

[Chicog]

20% of Donald Trump’s campaign spending goes to Donald Trump.

He sure likes to keep it in the family.

The biggest payment to a Trump company is $4.6 million to TAG Air, the holding company of his airplanes.

His campaign headquarters is at Trump Tower in New York. The campaign has paid about $520,000 in rent and utilities to Trump Tower Commercial LLC and to Trump Corporation.

For events, he often uses his own properties. The campaign paid out $26,000 in January to rent a facility at Trump National Doral, his golf course in Miami. He'd held an event in the gold-accented ballroom there in late October. The campaign spent another $11,000 on Trump's hotel in Chicago.

Even refreshments have a Trump tie.

About $5,000 from the campaign went to Eric Trump Wine Manufacturing LLC, which offers Virginia wines bearing the bold letters of Trump.

Son Eric Trump also factors into another large Trump campaign expense.

The campaign has paid about $4.7 million for hats and T-shirts purchased from Ace Specialties. That company is owned by a board member of Eric Trump's charitable foundation.

[Berkshire]

On top of all this, Trump has been using his own companies for his campaign. 4.6 million to his airline, rent to Trump Tower Commercial, he bough wine from one of his sons, paid for an event at his golf course in Miami, etc. etc. All in all about 6 million.

All those expenses may in themselves be legit, but they certainly do not give an impression of somebody who is above board in his dealings.

Just an honest question. If he has been basically self financing his own campaign why shouldn't he leverage the assets he has?

By self-financing, he means his company has been loaning money to his campaign. The campaign is like a separate business which has to pay back the loan, most likely through campaign contributions. A good deal of the expenses for this "business" has been paid to other Trump entities. So the money is basically being recycled back to Trump--he can't lose. And I'm sure there are tax benefits to all this. Again, pretty slick.

[Boon Mee]

Trumps angry voters. Why so angry?

Not angry - just fed up with the lies.

Plus, what's the alternative, eh?

Crooked Hillary?

[Berkshire]

Trumps angry voters. Why so angry?

Not angry - just fed up with the lies.

Plus, what's the alternative, eh?

Crooked Hillary?

But you're supporting the biggest liar in the history of politics. No one lies like Trump...and it's not even close.

[Boon Mee]

Trumps angry voters. Why so angry?

Not angry - just fed up with the lies.

Plus, what's the alternative, eh?

Crooked Hillary?

But you're supporting the biggest liar in the history of politics. No one lies like Trump...and it's not even close.

Big negativo on that.

Trump is only down in Florida and with the rest of the 'battleground' States, he's even with her and 4 months to go!

[slipperylobster]

Trumps angry voters. Why so angry?

Not angry - just fed up with the lies.

Plus, what's the alternative, eh?

Crooked Hillary?

I refuse to believe how many people do not keep up with the news. The only anger I have seen are from the No-Trumpers (democrats). Examples all over the news during the primaries.

They seem to be way over the top. What makes the democrats look so ridiculous is that they believe Hillary has it in the bag. Now, if that is true, then why do they turn towards uncontrollable violence and temper tantrums?

Never saw any intelligent life in those crowds.

Edited June 22, 2016 by slipperylobster

[Ulic]

Republicans may worry about Trump, but they also continue to stab him in the back.

[Boon Mee]

Trumps angry voters. Why so angry?

Not angry - just fed up with the lies.

Plus, what's the alternative, eh?

Crooked Hillary?

I refuse to believe how many people do not keep up with the news. The only anger I have seen are from the No-Trumpers (democrats). Examples all over the news during the primaries.

They seem to be way over the top. What makes the democrats look so ridiculous is that they believe Hillary has it in the bag. Now, if that is true, then why do they turn towards uncontrollable violence and temper tantrums?

Never saw any intelligent life in those crowds.

Ah ha! But she doesn't have it 'in the bag'. As mentioned in another thread, Trump is only behind in Florida by a few points. Ohio and the rest of the so-called 'Battleground' States he's even and some polls have him pulling ahead.

Wait until the fallout of these new reveraling books out now describe how venal Crooked Hillary is. She can continue to drop until it's going to be a landslide of Biblical proportions!

Edited June 22, 2016 by Boon Mee

[Berkshire]

Trumps angry voters. Why so angry?

Not angry - just fed up with the lies.

Plus, what's the alternative, eh?

Crooked Hillary?

But you're supporting the biggest liar in the history of politics. No one lies like Trump...and it's not even close.

Big negativo on that.

Trump is only down in Florida and with the rest of the 'battleground' States, he's even with her and 4 months to go!

What??? I said Trump is a big fat liar. More so than everyone else.

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/03/31/ninety-one-percent-donald-trump-false.html

[Boon Mee]

^

Your source is a far-left wing biased screed sheet my friend...

[Berkshire]

^

Your source is a far-left wing biased screed sheet my friend...

Go find your own sources then....just make sure they're not some white supremacist website.

"Trump lies so much that in 2015, Politifact awarded him the Lie of the Year for numerous statements he made, because the team couldn’t pick the most egregious lie. Out of 77 statements checked, 76 of them were found to be mostly false to false to pants on fire lies."

The Trump truth chart via Politifact:

[boomerangutang]

The liberals (Democrats) are into the food stamp/welfare/handout syndrome.

All social strata of Americans get gov't hand-outs, from poorest to richest. It's just that the richest get the largest pieces of the pie. Trump himself got personal rent subsidies (from NY government) for several years in a row. To qualify, he had to show he earned less than $500k/year. That's an unusually small sum for a man who boasts; "I'm worth many many billions of dollars, folks. Believe me." That's like a person who claims to be worth $100,000 but also claims to make no more than $5 per year.

I used to think Thaksin was the biggest liar known to man. Now I think it's a toss-up between Bernie Madoff and Trump.

[up2u2]

Hillary supporters don't have a clue..eh?

They pretty much lost touch with reality....

Right now, they are thinking Hillary is a good deal..lol.

You got it all wrong..as usual.

The liberals (Democrats) are into the food stamp/welfare/handout syndrome.

Watch your scientists (lol) jumping up and down on cars and buses...in frustration.

Been all over the news.. mobs of idiots.

Worse than that...she has not even cleared her legal dilemma yet. FBI report coming up soon...lol

Lets see how that Big End of Town Republican diatribe goes down in the electorate. Email it to Trump's campaign manager see if he can insert it into an interview.

With Trump in Scotland for a week and no big fat mouth to put his foot in he may just get a bounce in the polls. lol

[Boon Mee]

If anyone should be worried it's Crooked Hillary.

She's lost the Evangelical vote now - what's next?

TOP EVANGELICAL LEADERS: Hillary Clinton’s Positions are WICKED and EVIL

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/06/top-evangelical-leaders-hillary-clintons-positions-wicked-evil-video/

Trump has 4 + months to rollover any last vestiges of Crooked Hillary support which he can do with his standard ablomb

[Buzzz]

Trumps angry voters. Why so angry?

Trumps supporters are skewed toward, white, uneducated, poor. Low wage earners.

The single best predictor of a Trump supporter is they didn't attend college.

In other words, a bunch of lazy dummies that have reached retirement age, broke, & want to blame everybody else for their poor planning.

Gee socialists supporting a Republican candidate how novel.

These lazy, poorly educated, low wage earning, redneck, Trump supporters are facing a dismal retirement due to their own stupidity for the most part.

FOX has been telling them it's all Obamas fault.

It's just a campaign tactic disguised as news but they don't realize it.

In private, Trump would ridicule these people for being losers.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Buzzz

[Boon Mee]

In private, Trump would ridicule these people for being losers.

Link?

It was Barry Obama who belittled the "Bitter Clingers' - remember?

Edited June 22, 2016 by Boon Mee

[Buzzz]

In private, Trump would ridicule these people for being losers.

Link?

I was assuming that since he says POWs are losers.

[Boon Mee]

Stacking Crooked Hillary's Lies throught her sordid carreer against the Donald's so-called 'lies' I'm afraid hers would resemble the ancient Temple of Babel!

Besides, Crooked Hillary is moraly and ethically berift.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Boon Mee