Donald Trump is acting presidential! But there are two problems.
Can Donald Trump turn himself into an actual politician?聽
We ask that question because Mr. Trump seems to have launched a self-renovation project as the crucial end of primary season nears. His press conference following Tuesday鈥檚 New York primary victory was atypically restrained, causing many pundits to opine that The Donald was pivoting to general election mode. And on Thursday he struck a more inclusive tone during a town hall event on NBC鈥檚 鈥淭oday鈥� show.
At one point Thursday, Matt Lauer asked Trump whether he could 鈥渦nsay鈥� some of his provocative statements about immigration and ethnic and racial groups to try and appeal to the broader general electorate. Trump sort of waved them away.
鈥淎 lot of that was entertainment,鈥� he said.
Literally speaking, Trump is already a real politico, of course. It鈥檚 a job where one foray makes you a pro, like journalism. Running for president counts.
And purposefully or not, he鈥檚 shown great political skill in the way he鈥檚 navigated the maze of Republican Party factions, pointed out Georgetown University associate professor of political science Jonathan Ladd in a last week.
Trump may think the nuclear triad involves a big fork but he鈥檚 done a great job appealing to cultural conservatives while eschewing libertarians and foreign policy hawks. This has divvied up the GOP electorate in a way favorable to Trump鈥檚 chances, according to Mr. Ladd.
鈥淭rump acts like he has a precise plan. This is his true gift 鈥� what has brought him to the cusp of the Republican presidential nomination,鈥� Ladd writes.
Plus, he鈥檚 readjusting as needed. Faced with the fact that his cheapskate free-media-based campaign was going to fall short of a delegate majority, he鈥檚 hired experienced top staff and switched to a more traditional (and expensive) approach. in upcoming primaries, wooing them with the promise of rides on his jet and conferences at Mar-a-Lago.
That said, Trump鈥檚 got two yuuge problems if he鈥檚 going to try and rebrand himself as presidential for the end of the primaries and the general election, if he gets that far.
The first is tone. Sure, he鈥檚 sounding a bit more subdued for the moment. But he鈥檚 already resumed talking about 鈥淟yin鈥� Ted鈥� on the stump. During an Indiana rally this week he said of waterboarding, 鈥淚 love it.鈥�
Trump is Trump and it鈥檚 very hard to see him not reverting to attention-grabbing provocations at some point. In a general election, the Democrats won鈥檛 let him. If they can鈥檛 goad him into saying something outrageous they鈥檒l just spent lots of cash on ads replaying his greatest hits of 2016, including his reference to Mexicans as 鈥渞apists鈥� and his many appearance-based insults of women.
Trump鈥檚 second problem is counterintuitive: money. Traditional politicians have fundraising networks and are skilled at wooing contributions. The Donald doesn鈥檛 seem to have any of that. His campaign has been relatively cheap so far, with about 70 percent financed by loans from Trump himself and 30 percent donations. But a general election effort costs around a billion dollars. Trump鈥檚 indicated in the past that he wouldn鈥檛 finance a general election campaign himself. If he doesn鈥檛, where鈥檚 he going to get that much cash?
The federal government offers public financing for general elections, but it isn鈥檛 much, relatively speaking, and it comes with strings. Neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney took public funds for their 2012 efforts. The Republican Party has lots of big donors, of course. But it doesn鈥檛 seem like they鈥檙e all that enthusiastic about the rise of Trumpism.
The Hill reported this week that a survey shows Trump is deeply disliked in the donor community.
鈥淎 victorious Donald Trump coming out of the Republican National Convention would have a hard time raising the money he needs to beat the Democratic presidential nominee in November,鈥� writes the Hill鈥檚 Jonathan Swan.
A billionaire who boasts of his wealth, the poorest candidate? That would be true irony, .
