- Mar 9, 2011
- 69,950
- 83,529
- 3,635
It's easy to see why Democrats are so horrified that he won't go away. They've thrown everything but the kitchen sink at him for eight years, but he's still looming over them.
Something shocking — and telling — has unfolded beyond Donald Trump's onstage, online and courtroom theatrics: He's running a professional, well-managed, disciplined presidential campaign.
Between the lines: Many top Republicans assumed that, after the Capitol riot, no one sensible would go near him. The campaign would be fringe and cringe. Instead, Trump has rolled up the party even tighter than he did when he was president.
1. Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, the top two officials at the Palm Beach-based campaign, run a tight, lean ship.
2. The Trump team has methodically wired obscure state Republican delegate rules to his advantage. Operatives have worked state by state over the past three years to be sure he benefited from mechanics such as winner-take-all rules.
3. In Iowa and New Hampshire, Trump built extensive ground operations that helped cement him as a formidable front-runner in both states almost a year before voting began.
4. The establishment opposition melted and proved much more amenable to his ways and plans.
5. Trump, who had flown solo his entire political life, allowed his allies to embrace the Heritage Foundation and other outside groups that are building talent banks and policy blueprints to help him swiftly staff the government to control and shrink what Trumpers call "the deep state."
6. Maybe the biggest shocker: Trump took indictments on 91 felonies in four criminal cases — a death knell for any other candidate — and turned them into a net positive. Even many traditional Republicans see the prosecutions as piling on.
What's next: Trump will amp up his attacks on his prospective general-election opponent — President Biden — while still working to clinch the Republican nomination, likely in March. It's yet another way that Trump 2024 is way ahead of the usual campaign game.
https://www.axios.com/2024/01/25/trump-2024-campaign-republican-nominee
Behind the Curtain: Trump's exponential power surge
Something shocking — and telling — has unfolded beyond Donald Trump's onstage, online and courtroom theatrics: He's running a professional, well-managed, disciplined presidential campaign.
- His 2024 operation is more sophisticated — dare we say traditional — than the slapdash improvisation of his White House and two previous runs.
Between the lines: Many top Republicans assumed that, after the Capitol riot, no one sensible would go near him. The campaign would be fringe and cringe. Instead, Trump has rolled up the party even tighter than he did when he was president.
- Now the GOP's biggest donors and power brokers not only figure he'll quickly become the nominee, they assume he'd beat President Biden if the expected rematch comes to pass.
- Trump is the strongest politically that he's ever been within his party.
1. Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, the top two officials at the Palm Beach-based campaign, run a tight, lean ship.
2. The Trump team has methodically wired obscure state Republican delegate rules to his advantage. Operatives have worked state by state over the past three years to be sure he benefited from mechanics such as winner-take-all rules.
3. In Iowa and New Hampshire, Trump built extensive ground operations that helped cement him as a formidable front-runner in both states almost a year before voting began.
4. The establishment opposition melted and proved much more amenable to his ways and plans.
5. Trump, who had flown solo his entire political life, allowed his allies to embrace the Heritage Foundation and other outside groups that are building talent banks and policy blueprints to help him swiftly staff the government to control and shrink what Trumpers call "the deep state."
6. Maybe the biggest shocker: Trump took indictments on 91 felonies in four criminal cases — a death knell for any other candidate — and turned them into a net positive. Even many traditional Republicans see the prosecutions as piling on.
What's next: Trump will amp up his attacks on his prospective general-election opponent — President Biden — while still working to clinch the Republican nomination, likely in March. It's yet another way that Trump 2024 is way ahead of the usual campaign game.
https://www.axios.com/2024/01/25/trump-2024-campaign-republican-nominee
