It’s Later than Trump Thinks
As an addendum to all of the brouhaha surrounding the Trump “Campaign,” commentators and pundits have been noting that yesterday was 13 weeks to Election Day or, put another way, 90 days from today.
Any dates thrown about have been in the context of either 1) the shrinking window of time that Trump has to right the ship or 2) the oodles and oodles of time left before Trump has to right the ship. Except for the most rabid Trumpistas, including the Orange-a-Tan himself, almost everyone else agrees that the ship does indeed need righting.
Captain Trump: I Got This!
Through every late-night Tweet, in every amped up rally, with every news cycle spent explaining the dumb stuff he said in the last news cycle, Donald J Trump not only fritters away time, he saps political will from the very people he needs to bring him across the finish line, where they exist, if they exist. It has been well-documented that he has eschewed the standard model for bringing in votes, which always includes a robust voter-outreach program buttressed by a strong campaign presence on the ground in key battleground states.
Rather than building such an organization of strong, tough, savvy field organizers loyal to the Trump campaign, he is relying instead on the RNC structure already in place, which has not been able to do this kind of heavy lifting for at least 15 years now. The massive amounts of money Trump has on hand despite the johnny-come-lately nature of his fund-raising indicate there are two things he’s not spending money on: ads and staff.
He can get away with the ads thing, kind of, if he is saving his money for an ad blitz later in the Fall. But he can’t build a get-out-the-vote operation that turns the key on Labor Day and expect to make up the ground lost to Team Clinton, who has been building staff, making phone calls, knocking on doors, and funneling all these voter outreach efforts back into a robust data-crunching operation which will enable them to micro-target key demographics in key counties in key states and start getting them to the polls next month.
Yes, I said “next month,” because while the 2016 Presidential Election ENDS on November 8, actual voting begins in half that time. Early voting is right around the corner, and some of these states are KEY to the Trump rust-belt strategy and/or swing states. Counting Tuesdays until Election Day, and using them as the start of a campaign week, the distribution is as follows (Most Excellent Source):
- Week of 9/20 – Minnesota, Michigan, Vermont
- Week of 9/27 – Illinois, Nebraska
- Week of 10/4 – Montana
- Week of 10/11 – Indiana, New Mexico, Arizona, Ohio, Georgia
- Week of 10/18 – Tennessee, Nevada, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, Texas
- Week of 10/25 – Hawaii, Louisiana, Utah, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, DC
- Week of 11/1 – Kansas
The following have early voting dates that vary by county: California, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Wyoming. And, of course, ALL of Washington State is mail-in ballots.
A REAL campaign knows this, and has people on the ground in all of these states whose job it is to make sure that people get absentee ballots who need them, (like our Juanita Jean is doing with Glen) and that absentee or in-person early votes start to get banked for their candidate on the first day possible.
The Clinton campaign has been identifying these voters for months now in key states, while the Trump campaign still thinks that the real deal of this election doesn’t start until after Labor Day. Well, Labor Day is September 5, and voting in Michigan begins 19 days later.
The first debate will be held two days later at Hofstra University. If Donald Trump bothers to show up, by the time he steps behind the podium, he will already be losing in Michigan, and in Minnesota, and in Vermont.
I think there’s a better than even chance that he doesn’t even know that.
Shhhh! Don’t tell him!!!
1Shhhh, Primo.
2When you throw the drowning rat a Mantus* anchor at the last minute, you let him think it’s a PFD coming through the air to his sorry butt (PFD=personal flotation device, USCG Approved).
.
*Mantus is one of the better modern design anchors. It has a lead-weighted ‘speartip’ that sets (digs in the bottom) like a banshee, and rolls with the wind, currents and tides.
A Texas firm too (in Kemah).
http://www.mantusanchors.com
I know, I know, I know… but really… why are we still talking about this man? He’s just a pest. Get the Raid and be done with it!
(AND… if anyone out there is still “on-the-fence” about who to vote for… take it from me: you are A Idiot and should never vote again. There. Said it.)
3Hey Donnie, Oct 19th at UNLV don’t be late! Jane will be very upset if she misses Hilz opening a few cans of whoop-a$$ on your sorry mug. Welcome to the Shark Tank, Donnie.
Thanks Obama! Seriously thank you, sir. Aug 31st President Obama will be at Lake Tahoe for the annual summit. We have the keys to Grandpa’s cabin for that occassion.
4JAKvirginia says:
5…He’s just a pest. Get the Raid and be done with it!
.
Anybody remember these puppies, Flit Guns (or Flitz, you see old spots on 50-60’s tv shows):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flit_gun
A HUUUUGGE one needed in the TrumpTower penthouse.
Oh, Primo, you could write a book entitled, “What Donald Trump Doesn’t Know”. (I know the title should be underlined, but my tools icon disappeared.)
6It may be the undertaking of a lifetime, so keep us updated.
Primo should write a book called “What Donald Trump Does Know.” It would be much less effort, kill vastly fewer trees, and probably occupy about half of one side of a sheet of paper. It could have a second volume of similar size: “Things Donald Trump Has Told the Truth About.”
7I suspect that he will be spending major money on rat***king projects in October, since that’s his idea of correct behavior.
8Might work too.
Yeah, Rhea! Remember Shelley Winters, the actress? She wrote a memoir about her life in movies. In one chapter she starts it with a line, like: On (such and such date) I married Earnest Borgnine. The rest of the page and the next were blank. Then next chapter.
That would be your book. Chapter headings and blank pages. It could come with a complimentary box of Crayons! For children of all ages.
9Quit giving the snacibupeR ideas! You’re giving away all our good secrets!
10Minnesota for Trump? You can NOT be serious. He’s not in play here. Done.
11Agreed Myrna. Scumpf will be lucky to reach the upper 30s in % in Minn.
“On Sunday, 9/18, I’m putting up a notice by the mailboxes in my building: Early Voting Begins Tuesday, 9/20. Call 507-602-xxxx for a Ride to the Polls.”
12Hey, JAK, I knew that Ethel Merman had a very short lived marriage to Ernest Borgnine but did not know Shelly did too. Katie Jurado probably wishes her marriage was as short as he bounced her down the stairs a time or two.
13Don’t worry, folks. I’m not giving away any state secrets here. There are people in the campaign who know this, but they did not win any arguments with The Manhattan Hillbillies. Trump believes two things: 1) He won the Republican primary on the strength of a populist uprising in awe of his wonderfulness. 2) The GOP apparatus is his by right of conquest, and the apparatchiks are so grateful to be liberated from their elitist overlords that they will work their shapely white fannies off for him this fall.
But the apparatchiks owe their political allegience to their county and state parties, and their fealty to the elected officials above them. Not. To. Trump. RNC offices in Florida have any kind of yard sign to warm the cockles of a purpleish red heart. Except Trump.
But I do smile at the idea of All the King’s Men trying to put Humpty Drumpfy together again with a column by a guy named Primo Encarnacion y Hachecristo.
14Well, Primo, your article just proves his point.
All campaign long — and ESPECIALLY since yesterday — Trump and his spokespeople have been swearing up and down that, “HE IS NOT A POLITICIAN EXCLAMATION POINT!”
And now it’s put-up-or-shut-up time. And he’s putting up. “See??? Trump is not neither a politician! That’s what he’s been saying all along!”
15JaneE: You are correct! It was Ethel. My mistake. Had a senior moment. Thanks for correcting.
16So Trump has lots of money, but isn’t spending it.
Does anyone know what happens to that money if Trump still has it when he loses? Does he get to keep it?
17LynnN: As I understand the structure of Trump’s campaign, yes, he does.
Think of it all as companies. Donald J. Trump is a company. He loaned $50+ million to the Donald Trump Campaign, another company. Guess who’s the CEO and sole owner?
Any monies donated to the Campaign become assets of the company. When the company closes down (after Nov. 8) it must disperse it’s assets and pay it’s liabilities. Guess who will be first in line to collect?
Wonder why a “self-financing” Campaign needed a “Donate” button on it’s website? Wonder why that same Campaign is now pushing hard for big donors? Trump not only wants to be paid back, he wants to make a profit on the deal. The Koch bro’s know this and will not give him a dime. (Ha!)
And all of this perfectly legal. Trump has been and will ALWAYS be for the moneym
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