Trump’s just like all the rest

Donald Trump came to Richmond last week, and caused some consternation among the great and the good.

Jeff Schapiro was on site — you can’t keep a man away from good copy — and he poked around to see why some people are backing the man from Manhattan. It’s the old Virginia blogger Chris Green who makes the most salient points:

Chris Green, an insurance agent from Augusta County, a rural tea party hotbed, said Trump — in politics as in business — focuses on marketing.

Green said Trump is positioning a personal brand much the same way professional golfer Tiger Woods and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon do. “He’s connecting with the four out 10 people who don’t vote in presidential elections. But these people are also consumers.”
With that, Green doffed a red baseball cap, emblazoned with Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

Green got the hat for $25. Trump is getting a lot more in free advertising.

Reaching into an underserved market niche and providing it a product people want to buy.

What they appear to be buying, however, is more of the same (but with much flashier packaging).

Over the last few days (and weeks, for those keeping score at home), we have learned that, contrary to Mr. Trump’s assertions, he is raising — and spending — other people’s money.

He is sending email blasts asking for cash, with the promise he will match them with his personal funds.

His most recent FEC report doesn’t appear to show the matching funds, but it does show he’s raised more money than some of the practiced pols in the race.

And the long time stories, rumors, and gossip of a `super PAC are, indeed, true. And that makes for some interesting copy:

This summer, Trump appeared at least two events for the Make America Great Again PAC, which took his campaign slogan as its name and received financing from his daughter’s mother-in-law. A consultant for the super PAC is a Republican operative who has previously worked with Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, according to several people with direct knowledge of their ties.

The Trump campaign’s links to the low-profile group could undercut the candidate’s posture as the only Republican in the race who has not sought to curry favor with wealthy donors, a central part of his anti-establishment message.

Lewandowski denied that Trump or the campaign had given the green light to Make America Great Again.

“Unlike other campaigns, we don’t have a quote-unquote designated super PAC that we tell people to give money to,” he said.

In a later interview, he threatened to file a lawsuit if The Washington Post reported that Trump had given the group his blessing.

These could all be read as “gotchas.” And they are — though the add-on about threatening to sue the Washington Post isn’t exactly the best way to make a story go away.

But they also add up to show that despite his discursive speeches, devoid of substance or particulars, Mr. Trump is, in some ways, running a traditional campaign, consultants and all.

Just like the rest of them.

Does this blunt his message or damage his campaign? Probably not, because he is both fortunate in his opponents (an underwhelming bunch) and has tapped into a deep, rich vein of discontent.

And the great and good have yet to find anything that can stop him. They caution that there is still plenty of time for things to turn around, and oodles of cash just waiting to be unleashed. It will bury Trump (and Carson, can’t forget about Ben). And if it can’t, at least it will sustain the laggards right up to the convention, which could be brokered, and bring Trump down at the finish line.

It’s a story filled with hope, but based upon bad math. A big field trying to stay in the contest for a long time increases the odds of a Trump victory. Expect to see more of this from more campaigns…

Jeb Bush Jr. told a group of college students Thursday afternoon that Sen. Marco Rubio should “drop out or do something” rather than miss votes by campaigning for president.

“As a Floridian, I’m a little disappointed, because he’s missing, like, 35 percent of his votes. And it’s just, kind of, like, dude, you know, either drop out or do something, but we’re paying you to do something, it ain’t run for president,” Bush Jr. told about 70 students at a New York University College Republicans event.

Cheeky.

But it does reflect a simple truth: a big field plays into Trump’s hands.