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Earlier this week, the Washington Post released an Internal Campaign Memorandum penned by Trump campaign senior adviser Barry Bennett. Entitled Digging through the Bull S[***] and addressed to Corey and Team, the memo reads less like an internal communiqué than a fundraising e-mail sent to the wrong people:
Bennett then quotes Reuterss tracking poll, scolds the Washington Establishment once more for its idiotic attacks, and concludes: Donald Trump 1 Washington Establishment/Media 0. Campaigns are grueling, and higher-ups sometimes have to boost staffers spirits. But one gets the sense that Bennett isnt writing as one professional to others, but as one member of a cult proselytizing to other true believers. Note the Trump-style capitalization that makes monolithic, omnipotent forces out of the press and federal officeholders. Have you ever wondered what a cabinet meeting of the North Korean government feels like? For those of us who have long maintained that the Trump campaign doesnt operate in anything remotely resembling reality, the last week has offered confirmation. On Tuesday, Politico reported that the Trump campaign is increasingly falling into disarray, conducting massive layoffs and dismantling what little infrastructure it has, including in key general-election states such as Ohio and Florida. The campaigns data team is now partly in the hands of a 2015 college graduate whose last job was an internship with the consumer products company Colgate-Palmolive, wrote Politico, adding: Some of the campaigns data remains inaccessible. For those tracking the Trump campaign, its something of a surprise that there is data to speak of at all. As of February, they were not deigning to conduct internal polls. Then, on Wednesday, Politico augmented its tale of woe, reporting that the Trump campaign is embroiled in a power struggle between campaign manager Corey Lewandowski (who two weeks ago was charged with misdemeanor battery in Florida) and Paul Manafort, the veteran Republican operative hired last month to be Trumps convention manager. According to Politico, Lewandowski recently sacked the man in charge of Trumps Colorado operation because he disobeyed Lewandowski and communicated with Manafort directly. The campaign now has no state chair. Meanwhile, insiders say that Manafort has been considering leaving the campaign if he does not receive more support. (On Thursday, Trump announced that he was consolidating the functions related to the nomination process and assigning them to Manafort perhaps an attempt to demonstrate support.) Lewandowski, as is his way, denies all, maintaining that Trump has the most cohesive, loyal staff, the most loving staff I have ever had the privilege of working with on a campaign. Contrast this with the Cruz campaign, which has been almost entirely free of such problems. Cruzs team has been working tirelessly to secure delegates who will be likely to turn to him on a second or third vote at a contested convention. Those efforts have been sufficiently fruitful that, for instance, Cruz is apt to walk away with ten more delegates than Trump in Louisiana a state that Trump won. Cruz swept both of the Colorado congressional districts that held their conventions this week, securing six more delegates for July, and an unaffiliated alternate delegate from Arapahoe County told MSNBCs Benjy Sarlin that Cruzs ground game is extraordinary. Likewise, a Republican operative in Arizona says that Cruzs is the only campaign organizing aggressively in the state. Cruz is also having marked success getting delegates friendly to him on the conventions key committees see, again, Louisiana. Apparently, Trump did not know that he had been outmaneuvered by Cruz at Louisianas state convention until the results were reported by the Wall Street Journal. To this must be added the fact that the Cruz campaign managed to adapt its strategy mid-race after Trumps surprise victories in the South earlier in the primary season states that, with their large numbers of Evangelicals, were supposed to be Cruz strongholds. The Cruz campaign didnt flail; it pivoted, successfully shifting its firewall to the Midwest and the Mountain West. Now, after a resounding victory in Wisconsin, Cruz is within reach of shutting out Trump in Indiana and Nebraska. If he can win a few pockets of delegates along the way, Trump will be kept under the 1,237 threshold. Two more different campaigns would be difficult to find. Cruz seems to have surrounded himself with knowledgeable, capable professionals operating quietly but confidently behind the scenes to win him the election. Trumps campaign, by contrast, seems to be a whirlwind of incompetence and egotism that has not flown apart only because of the centripetal force of the personality at its center. And there is no reason to believe that Trumps campaign will continue to be anything but chaotic, fractious, and inept. The Clinton juggernaut looms, and only one of these organizations has demonstrated the wherewithal to take it on. |
Trump and Cruz: A Tale of Two Campaigns, One of Which Is Competent
| Source: | NRO |
| Published: | Apr 7, 2016 |
| Author: | Ian Tuttle |
| Post Date: | 2016-04-08 18:46:22 by Tooconservative |
| Views: | 8746 |
#1: sneakypete To: TooConservative (#0)
sneakypete posted on 2016-04-08 19:53:05 Reply Private Reply
#2: Pinguinite To: sneakypete (#1)
And which one is winning? hehe
Pinguinite posted on 2016-04-08 22:59:30 Reply Private Reply
#3: sneakypete To: Pinguinite (#2)
As near as I can tell,it's not over yet.
I still expect Trump to drop out.
sneakypete posted on 2016-04-08 23:39:34 Reply Private Reply
#4: SOSO To: sneakypete, Pinguinite (#3)
Not until he is absolutely certain will win the general election.
SOSO posted on 2016-04-09 00:06:18 Reply Private Reply
#5: nolu chan To: TooConservative (#0)
Cruz clings to a desperate hope to stop Trump from getting 1237. The spectacular Cruz campaign will give up all hope of 1237 very shortly.
Lyin' Ted has said Kasich should drop out because Kasich cannot get to 1237. When Cruz assumes zombie status, he will exempt himself from his own rule.
The Lyin' Ted campaign manager has said if Trump does not get a majority in his home state, he should drop out as others have done. Lyin' Ted got 43% in Texas. Why hasn't Lyin' Ted dropped out?
The Clinton juggernaut is shambling along like a walker in The Walking Dead. How many consecutive contests has the juggernaut lost? How many consecutive times has Bernie outraised the juggernaut?
It is a real wonder why Trump continues to be the shit out of Cruz who, in early April, has no hope whatever of getting to 1237.
nolu chan posted on 2016-04-09 01:01:35 Reply Private Reply
#6: Tooconservative To: nolu chan (#5)
And Trump would drop out if he can't get to 1237 before the convention?
Of course not.
So it goes to a contested convention which will be conducted with delegates. And which Cruz has a very good chance of winning.
So why would Cruz drop out? It would make no sense.
Tooconservative posted on 2016-04-09 01:10:52 Reply Private Reply
#7: nolu chan To: TooConservative (#6)
Just admit Cruz is full of shit.
nolu chan posted on 2016-04-09 01:19:04 Reply Private Reply
#8: Tooconservative To: nolu chan (#7)
Is it because he has missed so many opportunities to shut out the competition? Or is it because he's let his delegates slip through his fingers because he apparently doesn't understand the delegate selection process?
Tooconservative posted on 2016-04-09 01:22:16 Reply Private Reply
#9: Pericles To: TooConservative, sneakypete (#0)
Pericles posted on 2016-04-09 02:24:42 Reply Private Reply
#10: Pinguinite To: TooConservative (#8)
It amazes me that anyone would think that Trump would be so much worse than Cruz or Hillary as president. As though the country has been doing just great over the past 40 years.
I'll ask this: Why NOT Trump as president? I don't care that he's got an ego. When you need massive issues of corruption, corporate control and a horrible economy that needs fixing, any personality issues simply do not count.
As Trump is leading now out of an original pack of 17 candidates, I honestly don't understand criticism that he should be doing better than he is. Even if you don't agree with his philosophies, how good does he have to do before he earns your respect? Do you think a double digit or even single digit percentage of the population could run for president and do as well as he has and is, even with the goofs he's made?
Pinguinite posted on 2016-04-09 02:28:01 Reply Private Reply
#11: Tooconservative To: Pinguinite (#10)
What gives you any confidence at all that he has any policy to address anything?
Build a wall and make Mexico pay for it? Why? Why is it Mexico's fault that we won't close our own border?
Start a trade war with China?
Start a nuclear arms race across the Mideast and Asia?
Whatever our problems, Trump isn't the answer. He doesn't have any answers. He doesn't seem to have any policy ideas, just a few slogans he repeats endlessly to crowds of cheering morons. Then he harangues them with another recitation of his polls.
Of course, I couldn't stand Trump before he ran for prez. So I probably just don't like him and don't want to think of having to hear the insufferable gasbag on TV every day for the next four years. As awful as 0bama is.
I also take a very dim view of any candidate who won't build up a campaign organization. This is reminiscent of the Alf Landon campaign of 1936 where he won the nomination and then just went home and didn't campaign at all. Because Landon wasn't prepared to be president any more than Trump is.
I don't think he has a philosophy. Or any comprehensible policy ideas.
So: never.
But then, I loathe Trump and always did even before he ran for prez.
Trump will not be the GOP nominee. And he will not be president. You may as well get used to it.
I'm not sure why you care. You live overseas. Did you even vote for Trump?
Tooconservative posted on 2016-04-09 02:56:49 Reply Private Reply
#12: Pinguinite To: TooConservative (#11)
Policy? I'd say I'm sick of policies. I want a real person who will cut the crap.
The USA is totally screwed. More of the same is not the solution, and that's all that all the other candidates have to offer. Trump offers a change of attitude, and that's a change that's needed.
No one said it's Mexico's fault. Just because people have to pay for things sometimes doesn't mean they are at fault.
Evening the playing field is not a war.
One thing I don't like about Trump is his statements about spending more on the military. That's one thing we do not need. As for starting a nuke race in the ME... that's up to the people in the Mid East.
I already am used to it.... from being under Clinton, Bush and Obama for 24 years. Anyone else will just continue to grow the massive train wreck called America.
I would vote for Trump. But postal mail is 4-8 weeks each way, if it arrives at all. But I do care.
Pinguinite posted on 2016-04-09 03:24:33 Reply Private Reply
#13: Tooconservative To: Pinguinite (#12)
So you just want a banana republic strongman. Maybe you've lived with the Latins too long. We can see what that kind of voting has brought them.
Ideas and policies are hard. So let's just give up. This whole idea of an informed electorate, a marketplace of ideas, Western democracy in general, we'll just flush all that so some orange-skinned celebrity huckster can magically fix everything for us. Because we're so deserving, eh?
It's all just pandering, most of it insincere.
Inasmuch as Trump has any ideas, they are the ideas of Pat Buchanan and the Reform Party. You find very little in Trump's sketchy policy ideas that you didn't find first in Buchanan's campaigns. And Trump flirted several times with the idea of running as the Reform Party candidate some years back.
What, would Trump have to start raving about that giant sucking sound before you recognized who he's channeling?
And that was another fake campaign, intended only to elect (and re-elect) the Xlintons.
Trump is a copy of a fake.
You're not under them. You've lived overseas for a long time. Which is fine with me. You don't have any real stake in this election.Tooconservative posted on 2016-04-09 03:34:33 Reply Private Reply
#14: Pinguinite To: TooConservative (#13)
Compared to what US voting has brought the United States? Do you actually think the US political system works for the average American? It doesn't.
The USA is FUBAR, and as such... how much worse could Trump be than anyone of the other 3?
Pinguinite posted on 2016-04-09 03:47:10 Reply Private Reply
#15: Tooconservative To: Pinguinite (#14)
He's a megalomaniac and a malignant narcissist. And he knows almost nothing outside his little world of luxury real estate and golf courses and resorts.
Yes, he could be much worse. World War III, Great Depression II, etc.
Tooconservative posted on 2016-04-09 03:50:14 Reply Private Reply
#16: Pinguinite To: TooConservative (#15)
Honestly, I think Hillary fits that description much more than Trump.
Hillary is in this race for her own personal lust for power. She believes that she deserves to be president, as though it's her birthright. In fact, I think the ego award actually goes to Hillary, not Trump.
I think arrogant is the negative term much more fitting for Trump. He has a lot of pride and confidence in himself, and likely excessively so. On the other hand, he has good reason to, being a highly successful businessman. But he still doesn't come off as craving power. Arrogant, yes, but a desire for power, no. At least I don't see that.
While this can't be ruled out for any candidate, again, I'd say Hillary is the most likely to start WW3. She does crave power, and will be certainly motivated to show the world how tough a woman can be.
Great depression II? Again, Hillary is in the pockets of Wall Street. Trump is rich, but owes nothing to anyone, so he'll be much less likely to be swayed by special interests.
Trump, given his track record, knows how to negotiate. War won't be the action of first resort, as it is for many Republicans. Instead, Trump will employ negotiations first, not only with the parties he wishes to direct, but others that may have influence. I'd say Trump is certainly the best negotiator of any and all candidates who have run for prez this time.
Pinguinite posted on 2016-04-09 05:17:37 Reply Private Reply
#17: sneakypete To: Pericles (#9)
You obviously have a rubber blow-up Trump doll,and just LOVE blowing the air supply tube.
You are also an idiot and clueless fool if you don't understand how Trump has used special tax breaks,government subsidies,and bankruptcy laws leaving the taxpayers holding the bag.
Wanna talk about how he is renting his private jet and it's crew to his campaign,and getting government dollars in return?
sneakypete posted on 2016-04-09 05:18:17 Reply Private Reply
#18: sneakypete To: Pinguinite (#10)
What part of "narcissistic sociopath" that you have trouble understanding?
I'll take stupid and incompetent over insane and incompetent any day.
sneakypete posted on 2016-04-09 05:20:10 Reply Private Reply
#19: Tooconservative To: sneakypete (#17)
It's awfully early in the day for such vivid images.
At least wait for the sun to come up.
Tooconservative posted on 2016-04-09 07:32:48 Reply Private Reply
#20: GrandIsland To: sneakypete (#3)
Most of the geriatric drug loving, cop hating hippie libtard posters that burned their brains out on dope in the 50's and 60's, that still get excited over black and white reruns of I love Lucy, post 60 year old music videos were stupid enough to say Trump won't make it a year ago.... BUT ONLY YOU are F'n retarded enough to say it now.
GrandIsland posted on 2016-04-09 08:19:31 Reply Private Reply
#21: buckeroo To: GrandIsland, sneakypete (#20)
buckeroo posted on 2016-04-09 08:26:03 Reply Private Reply
#22: sneakypete To: GrandIsland (#20)
Having a donut sugar rush this morning,Officer Barney?
sneakypete posted on 2016-04-09 09:42:55 Reply Private Reply
#23: sneakypete To: buckeroo (#21)
Mostly because they are people that operate based on emotion,not thinking. In some cases,like Fire Islands,that's all they are equipped to do.
sneakypete posted on 2016-04-09 09:44:45 Reply Private Reply
#24: Rufus T Firefly To: TooConservative (#11)
Funny you bring up the 1936 election. Trivia:
Q:What two states did Landon carry in 1936?
A: Maine and . . . . Vermont. VERMONT. Today's Socialist home of two Marxist senators (one out of the closet and one still in)was once so conservative that it (almost alone) voted AGAINST the godfather of modern US socialism.
My how times have changed. The point is - comparing today's US to the one 80 years ago is probably like comparing pre-Castro Cuba to the one today.
We've had a revolution - we just don't admit it.
Rufus T Firefly posted on 2016-04-09 10:59:41 Reply Private Reply
#25: Tooconservative To: Rufus T Firefly, BobCeleste (#24)
We've had several IMO.
Bob might enjoy that warm mention of his beloved senators. LOL
It is funny to read the old op-ed's about Landon's campaign. Basically, he got the nomination at the convention and then went home and hid in his house in Kansas until the election was over. You probably recall his daughter, Nancy Landon Kassebaum, served 3 Senate terms in the Reagan-Bush era.
Tooconservative posted on 2016-04-09 11:02:53 Reply Private Reply
#26: buckeroo To: sneakypete, GrandIsland (#23)
He has a lot of dreams, that is for sure.
buckeroo posted on 2016-04-09 11:09:39 Reply Private Reply
#27: VxH To: nolu chan (#7)
Yeah but at least it's good ol' American Bull Shyte - and not the Russian Oligarchic Alligator manure Drumpf's Useful Idiots would have us all wading up to our arses in.
VxH posted on 2016-04-09 11:38:05 Reply Private Reply
#28: GrandIsland To: buckeroo (#21)
Because the other choices are RINO's, twat socialist or filthy Commie Sanders.
Dipshit.
Btw, I'm watching a great documentary on your hero, Christopher Dorner. Like most Paultard lovers of Dorner, he was crazier than a shithouse rat.
GrandIsland posted on 2016-04-09 12:07:41 Reply Private Reply
#29: Deckard To: GrandIsland (#28)
Like most cops.
Including you, Barney.
Deckard posted on 2016-04-09 12:28:02 Reply Private Reply
#30: buckeroo To: GrandIsland (#28)
Isn't he one of of your own colleagues whom attempted to turn you PIGS in and the upper brass refused to listen? As I understand that situation, he tried tymer and tyme and tyme ... but no one would listen. SO, he took the law into his own hands ... similar to most PIGS who work under the colour of law.
buckeroo posted on 2016-04-09 12:34:32 Reply Private Reply
#31: GrandIsland To: Deckard (#29)
AR 15............. 1,100.00
A couple smoke grenades .... 34.00
A crispy fried cop hating asshole... Priceless.
GrandIsland posted on 2016-04-09 12:37:55 Reply Private Reply
#32: GrandIsland To: buckeroo (#30)
Dorner was a cop killer. Key word.... WAS. lol
GrandIsland posted on 2016-04-09 12:39:53 Reply Private Reply
#33: Deckard To: buckeroo (#30)
You know better than to post facts to FireIsland like that.
His poor widdle piggy head will explode.
Deckard posted on 2016-04-09 12:43:31 Reply Private Reply
#34: buckeroo To: GrandIsland (#32)
The brass fucked upped and wouldn't listen ... as a fuckin' PIG, he had no alternative but go after his fellow PIGs.
buckeroo posted on 2016-04-09 12:44:49 Reply Private Reply
#35: buckeroo To: Deckard (#33)
buckeroo posted on 2016-04-09 12:47:47 Reply Private Reply
#36: Deckard To: buckeroo, GrandIsland (#34)
Deckard posted on 2016-04-09 12:49:13 Reply Private Reply
#37: Deckard To: buckeroo, GrandIsland (#35)
Lots of would-be-fascists supporting Trump.
I think most are insecure and weak little men looking for a Daddy figure.
Or maybe just the cult of personality.
Deckard posted on 2016-04-09 12:55:08 Reply Private Reply
#38: buckeroo To: Deckard (#37)
You have a good perspective on a POM-POM waving Trumperette.
buckeroo posted on 2016-04-09 13:05:25 Reply Private Reply
#39: Tooconservative To: Deckard (#36)
Tooconservative posted on 2016-04-09 13:05:41 Reply Private Reply
#40: Deckard To: TooConservative (#39)
Yeah I remember that too. In fact, the cops who did the shooting were not charged.
What a shock!
No charges for LAPD officers who shot newspaper delivery women during Dorner manhunt
Of course, FireIsland will tell you that they "must have been guilty" of something, otherwise the cops would not have fired at them.
Deckard posted on 2016-04-09 13:13:53 Reply Private Reply
#41: Tooconservative To: Deckard (#40)
Posting these stories does inform people more widely, even at a tiny forum like LF. Because you and I (and probably a few others) remember it and will remember it for some years.
Tooconservative posted on 2016-04-09 13:39:40 Reply Private Reply
#42: Pericles To: sneakypete (#17)
Pericles posted on 2016-04-09 14:08:23 Reply Private Reply
#43: GrandIsland To: Deckard (#36)
Bye bye, extra crispy. lol
GrandIsland posted on 2016-04-09 14:29:24 Reply Private Reply
#44: sneakypete To: Pericles (#42)
Does your mama know you are posting on the internet,little boy?
sneakypete posted on 2016-04-09 14:50:00 Reply Private Reply
#45: Pericles To: sneakypete (#44)
Pericles posted on 2016-04-09 15:03:15 Reply Private Reply