Gone was “Lyin’ Ted.” In its place was “Senator Cruz.” Gone was the long-winded speech that went nowhere. In its place was a succinct recitation of states and delegates won. Gone was the two-day vacation as a reward for winning. In its place was an early morning trip to Indiana followed by another planned stop in Maryland.
Donald Trump 2.0 made his official debut Tuesday night following his sweeping victory in New York, a win that looks to net him 90 delegates and reestablishes him as the man to beat in the Republican presidential race.
That version of Trump was markedly more disciplined, gentler and more appealing than the version of Trump we’ve seen for much of the last year. And, that fact should scare the hell out of establishment Republicans who believed that their efforts to keep Trump from the 1,237 delegates he needs to formally capture the GOP nomination was beginning to catch on.
Why? Because it’s clear, at least for now, that Trump is listening to his new political advisers — chief among them convention manager Paul Manafort and national field director Rick Wiley. Trump’s change in tone on Tuesday night was absolutely unmistakeable to anyone who has paid even passing attention to his campaign to date. The man who had built his frontrunning campaign on a willingness to always and without fail take the race to its lowest common denominator — was suddenly full of respect for the men he beat and full of facts about the state of the race.
“We have won millions of more votes than Senator Cruz, millions and millions of more votes than Governor Kasich,” Trump said. “We’ve won, and now especially after tonight, close to 300 delegates more than Senator Cruz.”
The change in tone is absolutely necessary if Trump wants to not only find a way to 1,237 delegates but also unite the party behind him in any meaningful way heading into the general election campaign this fall. The truth is that Trump has to play an outsider and an insider game from here on out. The outsider game is to keep winning primaries by convincing margins like he did in New York. The insider game is to show unbound delegates as well as party leaders and influencers that he can be magnanimous, that he can be a uniting force within the party.
Calling Cruz “Lyin’ Ted” is a great laugh line at a Trump rally but accusing the Texas senator of holding up the Bible and then putting it down and lying isn’t exactly the sort of rhetoric you need or want from a candidate who needs to bring the party together behind a common enemy in Hillary Clinton. It’s the difference between being voted “class clown” and being elected student body president. The former delights in taking the low road for cheap laughs. (I speak from experience.) The latter takes the high road even if it’s against his or her own natural instincts.
Can Trump keep it up? Discipline on a single night or even a single week is one thing. Discipline over several months amid what will be continued attacks from both Cruz and the “stop Trump” movement is something else. And, listening to your new advisers when they are, well, new is easier than listening to them when it’s been a few months of biting your tongue and fighting back some of your natural attack instincts.
But, Trump has shown — both on Tuesday night and over the past week or so — an ability to reign himself in that suggests he understands that this new and improved version of himself is the one that can actually win the Republican presidential nomination. Be scared, anti-Trump forces. Be very scared.
Don’t need a “new Donald Trump” to scare the hell out of the GOP establishment.
Or the entire world ruling Elite Establishment for that matter.
The old one did quite well.
Still, maybe it is time to change the rhetoric more towards that which would be appealing to a wide segment of the average working population for the upcoming Presidential election instead of mostly aiming it at those who are already aware of and opposed to the Establishment.
That is, of course, only if the combined forces of most of the world Establishment is unsuccessful in stopping him from becoming the Republican candidate in spite of the huge power they wield.
“But, Trump has shown — both on Tuesday night and over the past week or so — an ability to reign himself”
Chris Cillizza can’t fuckin write. He’s the kind of asshole who uses “free reign” when he means free rein. He doesn’t seem to know what a comma is for, either. People who write like that may as well be illiterate for all the reading they do.
When a writer uses a word that is pronounced the same as the one needed to make the statement he wants to make, but misses the meaning he’s trying to convey, then it’s a sure bet that he heard it on TV or radio instead of reading it. Since the fat fucker is paid to write, he should be able to do so at a competent level.
I agree with Ed … what a horrible POS article. Then again, that “writer” works for the Washington comPost, and he despises Trump.
Primary delegates won are like “the check is in the mail”. The RP in Florida has an incestuous voting process left over from Reconstruction (the executive committee votes for the precinct captains which vote for the executive committee); it is a dictatorship Cabal run by NWO Elites who don’t give a rats ass about primary results. The RP is a private organization that makes it’s own rules (like the 8 state rule they made last time to lock out Ron Paul delegates). Trump won my Florida county but all three county delegates going to the state convention to elect the delegates going to Cleveland are anti-Trump determined to find a way to defeat him because their convenient operational lie is Trump can’t beat Hillary, the voters made another mistake so the RP bosses must save the party by finding a way to select someone for president who can win in November.
Hmmmm
It is no small irony that ad hominem attacks are so often employed by those implying intellectual superiority as a means to buttress their argument or point of view.
He knew the American public is stupid. The campaign has been probing to see how deep the stupidity runs and it scared Donald so bad he has become more conventional.
The fix is in for Hillary anyway. At least Trump as the nominee would let him expose the lying scallywag for all she is. Then the GOP can say don’t say we didn’t warn you. Hillary will be the next Jimmy Carter. One term and done. Let the Marxicrats take the fall when the world economy collapses.
The comPost…I haven’t heard that since my old FR days. It still fits.