海角大神

In 1988, when Kellyanne Fitzpatrick applied for an internship at a major Republican polling firm, three things stood out on her r茅sum茅.

鈥淣o. 1, she was Phi Beta Kappa,鈥� recalls pollster Neil Newhouse. 鈥淣o. 2, she had been Miss Teenage New Jersey. And the most impressive, No. 3, she was some kind of blueberry packing champion. We said, 鈥榃e鈥檝e got to at least interview her.鈥櫬犫��

Needless to say, Ms. Fitzpatrick 鈥� now known as Kellyanne Conway 鈥� got the internship. Thus was launched her successful career as a pollster who specializes in understanding women voters and consumers. And now she has embarked on her highest-profile job yet: Trump whisperer.

Ms. Conway鈥檚 new job title is 鈥渃ampaign manager,鈥� but she鈥檚 really a 鈥渃andidate manager鈥� 鈥� and that鈥檚 the key role, Mr. Newhouse says.

鈥淭his is Donald Trump鈥檚 campaign. He鈥檚 the one making the news. It revolves around him, and being able to manage Donald Trump requires a lot of talent and skill,鈥� Newhouse says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what she brings to the table.鈥�

In fact, Conway鈥檚 new job may well be more important to Trump鈥檚 political fortunes than that of his new campaign CEO, Breitbart News executive chairman Stephen Bannon, whose hiring got most of the press attention last week when Trump shook up his campaign staff.

If the populist, nativist Mr. Bannon represents a link to the 鈥渁lt-right鈥� conservative fringe that has embraced Trump as one of its own, then Conway represents elements of the Republican electorate that Trump has yet to win over.

鈥淪he鈥檚 the perfect balance to Steve Bannon,鈥� Republican pollster Frank Luntz tells Bloomberg News. 鈥淏annon is to tell Trump what Trump wants to hear. Kellyanne is going to tell Trump what Trump needs to hear. That鈥檚 what makes her different.鈥�

Helping Trump win women's votes

Improving Trump鈥檚 image among women, in particular, is a crucial piece of the puzzle as the businessman-turned-politician seeks to turn around his struggling campaign. He trails Hillary Clinton among women by a yawning 21 points 鈥� 56 percent to 35 percent 鈥� according to a recent NBC News/Survey Monkey tracking poll.聽Trump leads among men by just 6 percentage points.

Until early May, Conway was working for an outside group backing Ted Cruz鈥檚 presidential campaign, and then joined Trump as a senior adviser July 1. Her strong verbal skills make her a natural as a frequent surrogate for Trump on TV, doing combat with cable news talking heads 鈥� often arguing his case better than he can.

Conway has known Trump for years, and by all accounts works well with him, communicating with him often and at times flying with him on his plane. 鈥淵ou get the impression she鈥檚 someone he respects, and that鈥檚 critical,鈥� Newhouse says.

Conway is also known to have the confidence of Trump鈥檚 daughter Ivanka and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, both close campaign advisers. Last month, Ivanka Trump delivered one of the most compelling speeches of the Republican National Convention, with a focus on the challenges of working mothers.

But another key element of the female electorate that Conway has long studied is unmarried women, who are growing as a proportion of the overall female population and lean Democratic.

鈥淚f the Republican Party does not learn to understand unmarried women as the political force and potent voting bloc that they have become, we risk becoming the minority party,鈥� Conway told reporters at a Monitor breakfast in October 2005.

She spoke alongside Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, with whom she co-authored a book, 鈥淲hat Women Really Want.鈥� An important reason single women tend to vote Democratic, Conway explained, is that Democrats put more focus on the social safety net than Republicans. And she is deeply attuned to the purchasing power and decisionmaking clout of single women, as the sole deciders on everything from what car to buy to which candidate to support. In politics, just talking to soccer moms or 鈥渟ecurity moms鈥� isn鈥檛 enough.

'Softening up' Trump

Conway is also sensitive to Trump鈥檚 tone, and doesn鈥檛 like name-calling or criticizing people on their looks. 鈥淢aybe it鈥檚 just the mother in me,鈥� she told The Washington Post last month.

Indeed, since Conway joined the campaign, Trump has ramped up his use of the teleprompter and given more serious policy speeches, in an apparent attempt to appear more presidential.

And yet in other, unscripted speeches, he has continued to make the inflammatory comments 鈥� talking, for example, about 鈥淪econd Amendment people鈥� in an allusion to gun owners taking matters into their own hands with regard to a President Hillary Clinton, or calling President Obama the 鈥渇ounder鈥� of the Islamic State. 聽

It may be that the new Conway-Bannon duo are the yin and yang of Trump 3.0, likely the final remake of this improbable campaign. But if Bannon is there to keep Trump鈥檚 enthusiastic base supporters (and Trump himself) happy, Conway certainly has the harder task: Help him expand his base by wooing both women and men who still aren鈥檛 sure about this outside-the-box character.

And that, ultimately, points to Conway鈥檚 prime role in the campaign, as a constant presence on cable TV and whispering in Trump鈥檚 ear.

鈥淪he going to be the face, she鈥檚 going to be the one who softens him up and helps him make inroads with affluent suburban voters, particularly married women and white college-educated voters,鈥� says Republican strategist Ford O鈥機onnell.

鈥淪o from that perspective, yes, she is a bigger deal. Because he can鈥檛 win, at least as the numbers line up right now, with white working-class voters alone. He has to make inroads into the suburbs.鈥�