CPUd
08-05-2016, 12:04 AM
Trump’s Chaos Offering Cover for Clinton
The Democratic nominee benefits from The Donald’s attack-fueled media controversies.
Hillary Clinton has emerged from her party's nominating convention with a modest polling lift.
Her more significant bump, though, is coming from Donald Trump.
With just under 100 days until the general election, perhaps the most unlikely and unorthodox GOP nominee for president in American history is once again mired in a needless controversy of his own making, earning the stinging repudiation of his fellow Republicans and allowing Clinton to position herself as the responsible, temperate alternative.
Trump's decision to target Khizr and Ghazala Khan, a Muslim-American couple whose son was killed serving in Iraq, demonstrates that the candidate would still rather settle an ego-bruising score than protect or advance his political prospects. It shows that the boundaries for his attacks remain limitless, creating a risky scenario when his adversaries include some of the nation's military veterans and Gold Star families.
And above all, it reinforces how he can wrest hold of the media's narrative and scorn with the drop of a single inflammatory tweet, drowning out much of the unfavorable coverage of Clinton that still swirls in the ether.
Trump creates his own constant stream of media chaos, while Clinton keeps her exposure tightly controlled and can glide by in large part by waiting for and reacting to the latest Trump flare-up. Rarely do a few days go by without one.
The latest example came this weekend, when Trump slighted Ghazala Khan by suggesting during an ABC News interview on Sunday that she didn't speak on behalf of her fallen son at the Democratic National Convention last week because she wasn't allowed to. Khizr Kahn that night lectured Trump from the convention dais in Philadelphia, telling the GOP nominee, "You have sacrificed nothing and no one."
On the same day, in defending her use of a private email server, Clinton told Fox News that FBI Director James Comey had deemed her answers about the ordeal "truthful." The Washington Post's Fact Checker, pointing out that some of her emails did contain classified material, bestowed "Four Pinocchios" on her claim.
But Clinton's fib barely broke through the sea of outrage that poured down on Trump Monday. Voters have come to expect their politicians to play loose with the facts; they're not accustomed to throw-downs with families who have buried sons killed in service to the nation.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona rebuked Trump in a statement, saying he did not have the right to impugn "the best among us." Sally Bradshaw, a former top aide to Jeb Bush, told CNN she was leaving the party to become an independent, slamming Trump as a "total narcissist – a misogynist – a bigot." Stuart Stevens, a chief architect of Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential bid, called on the Republican National Committee to ask Trump to step aside and let his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, head the ticket.
"This gives a whole new round of attention to Republicans who are hesitating on whether to support Donald Trump. What would drive Republicans is to remind them all of the reasons we don't want Hillary Clinton. That's not what we're doing right now," says Christian Ferry, the campaign manager for Sen. Lindsey Graham's presidential bid. "Right now, the entire news cycle has been all about Donald Trump and the Gold Star family, and I think the Gold Star family is going to come out on top of that."
Even without his quarrel with the Khans, Trump was going to be entering August facing a headwind. General election polls taken in the wake of the Democratic National Convention found Clinton ahead of Trump by 5 and 8 percentage points, with Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein included in the field. Following the Republican National Convention, CBS measured the race as a dead heat. But the network's weekend survey now has Clinton at 41 percent and Trump at 36 percent, with Johnson pulling 10 percent. Trump has ceded his advantage with independents and his favorability rating dwells at a dreadful 31 percent.
The battleground state picture looks equally as encouraging for the former secretary of state. Recent surveys of Pennsylvania – a state Trump has said he can win – have shown Clinton ahead by up to 9 points. In Missouri, a state that should be safely in Trump's column, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch poll found a surprisingly competitive contest.
Trump's assertion Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "not going into Ukraine," despite that country's incursion into Crimea in 2014, additionally raised fresh doubts about his knowledge of crucial worldwide events and fitness to be commander-in-chief. But it's also a mistake that should wash away more quickly because it doesn't raise the basic questions of decency and decorum expected of presidential candidates, which the Kahn episode does.
Taking on the parents of slain soldiers "is a no-win scenario, even if there's manifest media bias in comparison with coverage" of Clinton's vulnerabilities, says one veteran conservative consultant speaking on background in exchange for candor.
"There is an old Archie Bunker bit where Archie wants to sue a station wagon full of nuns. The lawyer walks, recognizing the futility," the consultant says. "One of the harder sells with clients is convincing them to take a hit and move on; there isn't always a counterstrategy. You just take the whuppin' and prep to pay them back in spades."
A statement released by Pence Sunday night attempted to clean up the damage, recognizing that Capt. Humayun Khan's sacrifice "should be cherished by every American," and pivoting to the broader war against the Islamic State group.
But Trump was back on Twitter early Monday, keeping the story alive by complaining about the soldier's father's appearances on television.
Trump's lack of discipline and his stubborn inclination to choose his gut over his advisers at any turn is the gift that keeps on giving to Clinton. Every appearance on Sunday morning television, or on evening cable news, or in the early morning hours on Twitter lends another opportunity for a fresh firestorm.
"This campaign has no message, no message discipline," Democratic strategist Steve McMahon told Bloomberg Television Monday evening. "They're walking themselves into this hole and then they're complaining about the hole they're in. It's the Trump campaign really against itself here."
There's little indication that there will be any sustained course correction going forward. Trump begins the doldrums of August playing from behind, though with so much game left to play, he's not dead yet
Republicans are left to grouse that he's doing everything to assist the inherently flawed Clinton, who remains an uninspiring and untrusted figure to the masses.
"Donald J. Trump is solving their problem by doing his just best to disqualify himself," the GOP consultant says.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-08-01/donald-trumps-chaos-offering-cover-for-hillary-clinton
The Democratic nominee benefits from The Donald’s attack-fueled media controversies.
Hillary Clinton has emerged from her party's nominating convention with a modest polling lift.
Her more significant bump, though, is coming from Donald Trump.
With just under 100 days until the general election, perhaps the most unlikely and unorthodox GOP nominee for president in American history is once again mired in a needless controversy of his own making, earning the stinging repudiation of his fellow Republicans and allowing Clinton to position herself as the responsible, temperate alternative.
Trump's decision to target Khizr and Ghazala Khan, a Muslim-American couple whose son was killed serving in Iraq, demonstrates that the candidate would still rather settle an ego-bruising score than protect or advance his political prospects. It shows that the boundaries for his attacks remain limitless, creating a risky scenario when his adversaries include some of the nation's military veterans and Gold Star families.
And above all, it reinforces how he can wrest hold of the media's narrative and scorn with the drop of a single inflammatory tweet, drowning out much of the unfavorable coverage of Clinton that still swirls in the ether.
Trump creates his own constant stream of media chaos, while Clinton keeps her exposure tightly controlled and can glide by in large part by waiting for and reacting to the latest Trump flare-up. Rarely do a few days go by without one.
The latest example came this weekend, when Trump slighted Ghazala Khan by suggesting during an ABC News interview on Sunday that she didn't speak on behalf of her fallen son at the Democratic National Convention last week because she wasn't allowed to. Khizr Kahn that night lectured Trump from the convention dais in Philadelphia, telling the GOP nominee, "You have sacrificed nothing and no one."
On the same day, in defending her use of a private email server, Clinton told Fox News that FBI Director James Comey had deemed her answers about the ordeal "truthful." The Washington Post's Fact Checker, pointing out that some of her emails did contain classified material, bestowed "Four Pinocchios" on her claim.
But Clinton's fib barely broke through the sea of outrage that poured down on Trump Monday. Voters have come to expect their politicians to play loose with the facts; they're not accustomed to throw-downs with families who have buried sons killed in service to the nation.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona rebuked Trump in a statement, saying he did not have the right to impugn "the best among us." Sally Bradshaw, a former top aide to Jeb Bush, told CNN she was leaving the party to become an independent, slamming Trump as a "total narcissist – a misogynist – a bigot." Stuart Stevens, a chief architect of Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential bid, called on the Republican National Committee to ask Trump to step aside and let his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, head the ticket.
"This gives a whole new round of attention to Republicans who are hesitating on whether to support Donald Trump. What would drive Republicans is to remind them all of the reasons we don't want Hillary Clinton. That's not what we're doing right now," says Christian Ferry, the campaign manager for Sen. Lindsey Graham's presidential bid. "Right now, the entire news cycle has been all about Donald Trump and the Gold Star family, and I think the Gold Star family is going to come out on top of that."
Even without his quarrel with the Khans, Trump was going to be entering August facing a headwind. General election polls taken in the wake of the Democratic National Convention found Clinton ahead of Trump by 5 and 8 percentage points, with Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein included in the field. Following the Republican National Convention, CBS measured the race as a dead heat. But the network's weekend survey now has Clinton at 41 percent and Trump at 36 percent, with Johnson pulling 10 percent. Trump has ceded his advantage with independents and his favorability rating dwells at a dreadful 31 percent.
The battleground state picture looks equally as encouraging for the former secretary of state. Recent surveys of Pennsylvania – a state Trump has said he can win – have shown Clinton ahead by up to 9 points. In Missouri, a state that should be safely in Trump's column, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch poll found a surprisingly competitive contest.
Trump's assertion Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "not going into Ukraine," despite that country's incursion into Crimea in 2014, additionally raised fresh doubts about his knowledge of crucial worldwide events and fitness to be commander-in-chief. But it's also a mistake that should wash away more quickly because it doesn't raise the basic questions of decency and decorum expected of presidential candidates, which the Kahn episode does.
Taking on the parents of slain soldiers "is a no-win scenario, even if there's manifest media bias in comparison with coverage" of Clinton's vulnerabilities, says one veteran conservative consultant speaking on background in exchange for candor.
"There is an old Archie Bunker bit where Archie wants to sue a station wagon full of nuns. The lawyer walks, recognizing the futility," the consultant says. "One of the harder sells with clients is convincing them to take a hit and move on; there isn't always a counterstrategy. You just take the whuppin' and prep to pay them back in spades."
A statement released by Pence Sunday night attempted to clean up the damage, recognizing that Capt. Humayun Khan's sacrifice "should be cherished by every American," and pivoting to the broader war against the Islamic State group.
But Trump was back on Twitter early Monday, keeping the story alive by complaining about the soldier's father's appearances on television.
Trump's lack of discipline and his stubborn inclination to choose his gut over his advisers at any turn is the gift that keeps on giving to Clinton. Every appearance on Sunday morning television, or on evening cable news, or in the early morning hours on Twitter lends another opportunity for a fresh firestorm.
"This campaign has no message, no message discipline," Democratic strategist Steve McMahon told Bloomberg Television Monday evening. "They're walking themselves into this hole and then they're complaining about the hole they're in. It's the Trump campaign really against itself here."
There's little indication that there will be any sustained course correction going forward. Trump begins the doldrums of August playing from behind, though with so much game left to play, he's not dead yet
Republicans are left to grouse that he's doing everything to assist the inherently flawed Clinton, who remains an uninspiring and untrusted figure to the masses.
"Donald J. Trump is solving their problem by doing his just best to disqualify himself," the GOP consultant says.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-08-01/donald-trumps-chaos-offering-cover-for-hillary-clinton