Today, The Washington Post's Robert Costa tiptoes in the direction of Taking Trump Seriously:
After a summer of dominating the Republican presidential campaign, Donald Trump is moving into a new and uncertain phase that the billionaire businessman acknowledges will be more challenging than any project he has ever undertaken -- even as he views the nomination as now within his reach.If he acts like a normal candidate, with TV ads made by the usual slicksters and focus-grouped outreach efforts targeted to areas of weakness, not to mention policy documents that can be chewed over by pundits, eventually they'll start writing think pieces asking whether we've all misjudged Trump and whether his policy ignorance masks a Gladwellian "Blink" style of decision-making genius that could potentially serve the Republic better than the tortured efforts of analytical brainiacs like Obama, Carter, and the George W. Bush brain trust. Or something like that. I don't know what the coverage reboot is going to be like, and I don't expect it to come right away -- but I do expect it to come if Trump wins Iowa and New Hampshire, because the press is never, ever going to admit that the GOP has gone stark staring mad.
In an hour-long interview with The Washington Post at his 26th-floor office in Trump Tower, the Republican front-runner ruminated on the many obstacles ahead....
Trump laid out for the first time in detail the elements of what will be the second chapter of his 2016 bid, signaling an evolution toward a somewhat more traditional campaign. Trump is preparing his first television ads with a media firm that is new to politics. Melania, his wife, and Ivanka, his daughter, are planning public appearances highlighting women’s health issues to help close Trump’s empathy gap with female voters.
Trump is also publishing a book and planning to roll out policies on reforming the Department of Veterans Affairs and on trade and China’s currency manipulations. And he is deepening his political organization far beyond the early states....
Maybe the press will say that its opinions of Trump haven't changed -- rather, it's Trump himself who's changed. Judging from Costa's story, this won't be true -- apart from these tactical changes, he still seems like the same old Trump:
His campaign says it has hired a Florida-based advertising firm and Trump said he has proposed several concepts for ads in the works.And yet it's clear Costa is slowly being won over, like a rom-com heroine who initially hated the guy she's eventually going to fall for:
“I have such a great concept -- in fact, so good,” Trump said, declining to specify....
The main room [of his campaign headquarters] is a showcase for Trump’s penchant for boastful teasing: a “wall of shame” features downcast photos of the two candidates who have dropped out, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Texas governor Rick Perry....
Trump claimed credit for keeping Romney out of the 2016 race though he bowed out long before Trump ever became a candidate. Dismissing the suggestion that it was former Florida governor Jeb Bush’s fundraising prowess that kept Romney from the race, Trump insisted, “He got scared away by me! By my mouth.”
From behind his desk, with New York’s leafy Central Park over his shoulder, and with no television cameras rolling, Trump presented a less strident and combative persona than the one that has become a familiar presence on television. He was conversational and at ease, even introspective at times....Oh yeah -- if he starts winning contests, the press is going to be swept off its feet eventually.
Throughout the interview, Trump exuded customary aplomb, but nonetheless indicated there are aspects of his performance that he can improve....
Trump’s competitors have suggested that he has little depth on international affairs. After being ridiculed for saying this summer that he gets much of his foreign policy advice by watching military experts on television talk shows, Trump has begun to seek counsel from some generals directly....
2 comments:
Shit yeah, if he meets/beats expectations in Iowa/NH, they will fall in love. I watched some of the Fox interview last night (Brett Baier). It was interesting -- not quite a lovefest but it was friendly -- clearly there's a thaw in the Trump/Fox cold war. Very interesting exchange vis a vis Iraq War and Syria/Russia. Also Geo. W. Bush.
Taking book on who first admits to tingles running down his leg for Trump.
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