‘MELTDOWN’ – Trump CONFUSED, RNC ‘Reallocating Funds,’ Staff FRIGHTENED…
The Trump campaign is denying a report from Time Magazine that the campaign is in meltdown and that Reince Priebus told him in a phone call that they are considering “reallocating” funds away from Trump to down-ballot races.
Here’s what the campaign is saying:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZwguHD7okI
Meanwhile, Time is reporting a MELTDOWN in the RNC and the Trump campaign:
Republicans groan that the difficult task of keeping their Senate majority gets tougher with each outré remark. Which is why the RNC is considering shifting some cash and staff away from the presidential race and toward down-ballot contests. That plan is already in motion among powerful outside groups that typically spend hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of the party nominee. “There’s going to have to be some resource reallocation,” says a senior Republican official familiar with internal party deliberations. A second senior party official routinely instructs Senate campaign managers to distance their candidates from Trump. “Don’t worry about the appearances,” the official said on a recent conference call. “Worry about winning.”
That explains why Republicans running for office this year don’t meet Trump’s plane at airports or introduce him at rallies. In some places, the avoidance strategy seems to be working. Senator Pat Toomey is in a statistical tie in his re-election bid in Pennsylvania, a state where Trump trails by about 10 points. In the key swing state of Florida, Senator Marco Rubio is running ahead in his re-election bid even as Trump narrowly trails Clinton. But in New Hampshire, Trump’s troubles may be dragging down Ayotte, who plummeted from a virtual tie to 10 points down in a recent poll.
The Trump campaign sounds exactly what you would imagine a campaign to sound like with a narcissistic solipsistic deranged despot at the top, with the staffers confused and wondering when they’ll be fired:
Like the rest of the party, Trump’s staff has been flummoxed by his political naiveté. They describe a candidate who doesn’t understand the basics of modern campaigns, from why you knock on doors to how to read a poll to why he should be dialing for dollars more aggressively. His headquarters has enough palace intrigue and warring fiefs to rival the fictional badlands of Westeros. “You’re always afraid of getting fired,” says one staffer, “but it’s his fault, not ours.”
These staff members are still cashing checks but have begun to lose faith that their boss can or should win the top prize in American politics. Most highly regarded Republican operatives have stayed away from the campaign, wary of being blackballed for future gigs. “If someone applied for a job and brought in a résumé that had Trump 2016 on it,” says a GOP fundraising consultant, “I wouldn’t give them an interview.”
And Trump himself seems to be confused about why the RNC is doing what they’re doing:
Internal and public polling suggests that the party will see record numbers of split-ticket voters who shun Trump but remain open to supporting vulnerable congressional candidates. Traditionally, these voters would be among the last targets for the party’s get-out-the-vote effort. But that might change if Trump’s poll numbers remain moribund. That’s why Republican officials have begun to acknowledge the possibility of deciding in the near future which voters to prioritize. Trump, who is helping the party collect cash, is mystified by this account. “Why would they state that when I’m raising millions of dollars for them?” he asked TIME.
This reminds me of the quotes he gives on the campaign trail where he whines that people don’t appreciate him enough. But when you’re ten points down on a terrible candidate like Hillary, you can’t expect politicians to stick by your sinking ship when they have their own hides to save. Unless you’re an autocratic idiot like Trump.
I gotta say, I don’t feel the least bit sorry for any of these morons.
