Sunday, August 28, 2016

The Brains Behind The Donald

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

People who get caught up in the complex business of running for President of the United States must necessarily surround themselves with a large team of paid operatives and advisors as well as legions of volunteers in order to get the compete effectively and ultimately win the race.  Many of the people involved in the campaign will go on to serve meaningful posts in the new administration and assist the victor in governing - so a look at who is guiding the campaign and advising the candidate offers a view as to what the next presidency is likely to look like.

Last month Donald Trump reportedly had a hundred and seventy paid staffers, and Hillary's campaign was paying over seven hundred individuals.  Trump once bragged that not only could he run a campaign on-the-cheap, but that he might also be able to turn a profit while seeking the presidency.  (Will that lead to Dollar Store diplomacy?)

Trump has reorganized the management of his campaign on multiple occasions.  In June he fired Corey Lewandowski, his campaign manager, over what appeared to be Lewandowski's inability to get along with Trump's adult children.  He was replaced by Paul Manafort, a professional lobbyist who has not only been aligned with several past Republican campaigns, but with the exploits of a few foreign leaders of questionable repute as well.  A couple of weeks ago Manafort was brusquely demoted and quickly left the campaign.

Currently the Trump campaign is being "managed" by Kellyanne Conway, a former advisor to the campaign who has been on board as "campaign manager" a little less than two weeks.  Ms. Conway, a former lawyer, pollster, and political operative, works under the guidance of the campaign's CEO, Steve Bannon, a "journalist" of sorts who is on loan to the campaign from the right-wing Breitbart News.  Bannon has been the source of a string of ugly headlines for the campaign as his personal history is being raked over and discussed in the press - stories centering on past charges of domestic abuse against his former wife, maintaining a "ghost" voting residence in Florida and possibly committing voter fraud, and most recently allegations that he has some personal issues with Jews and once vetoed his daughter attending a certain school because too many Jews went there.

It would appear as though The Donald still does not have his campaign management organized or sorted.  And then there are a couple of "advisors" who are worthy of mention.

Former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, the cherry atop the right-wing fruitcake, is claiming to be a foreign policy advisor to Trump.  Bachmann, a law school graduate from Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma, has little in the way of actual foreign policy experience herself - except for an extended congressional junket to Germany, Ireland, Pakistan, Kuwait, and Iraq in 2007 - and a brief time in 2012 when she and her family became Swiss citizens - but she probably does have access to an atlas and a globe.

The other Trump "advisor" or note is Fox News hack Sean Hannity.  The "fair and balanced" journalist admits that he has been offering Trump and his family advice on campaign strategy and messaging, though he denies having any interest in eventually securing a position for himself in a Trump administration.

With campaign management in disarray, and the candidate apparently seeking advice from any nitwit who crosses his path, is it any wonder that Hillary's lead lengthens by the day?  Instead of trying to get "on message" as many in the GOP leadership are imploring him to do, perhaps this would be a good time for the candidate to pack his bags and fly off somewhere for a long vacation.

In paraphrase the The Donald himself:  What has he got to lose?

1 comment:

Xobekim said...

Kansas shines darkly in the Trump vacuum as well. Touting the Kansas Miracle Trump named Governor Sam Brownback as an agricultural adviser. Also named an agricultural adviser is Senator Pat, rent-me-a-recliner, Roberts. Our Secretary of Voter Suppression is the source of Trump's fantastic notion that Mexico will pay for the Great Wall of Bigotry. Kris Kobach should know he was at Justice when Ashcroft had his minions cut and pasted together the 363 pages of the Patriot Act; where that provision allegedly resides in our law.

While Trump isn't what's the matter with Kansas, that which is actively aids and abets his campaign.