What is the Trump campaign even DOING?

[moose65]

Maybe my memory is fading, but it seems like in 2008 and 2012 the political ads were all over the TV all summer long. I have seen a few Hillary ads here in NC (mostly on cable channels so I assume they're national ads), but I don't think I have seen a single ad for Trump! Is he even doing them? I can't even imagine what a "positive" Trump ad would look like.

Does he think he can run a campaign-by-Twitter or by just appearing on Fox News where the only people who see him would have voted for him anyway? In this modern world of the endless campaign cycle, doesn't he have any political consultants? I just don't get it!

On the other hand, I kinda like turning on the TV and not being subjected to endless campaign ads. In 2014 there were endless Hagan/Tillis ads all over the place, but I don't think I've seen any Richard Burr ads either! Is it still too early for those?

This whole campaign cycle has been so weird. Seems like the Republicans are trying to go through the campaign season without even mentioning the name of their presidential candidate. Not that I blame them, but still - it's so strange!

[CanadaexPat]

1. He's opportunistic - he's good at exploiting events.

Hopefully nothing dramatic happens between now and Election Day. The only thing that could save him is some catastrophic event that causes a sudden upsurge in throw-the-bums out mentality. A vote for Trump is mostly a vote against everyone else.

[oswaldactedalone]

2. Could it be that political

TV ads have become an inefficient way to advertise in terms of voters moved versus dollars spent? Think back four years ago with the hundreds of millions dollars of TV ads run by Rmoney and Thug sycophant groups and how everyone laughed at how ineffective they turned out to be.
Dominating social media, the news cycle, and voter contact are the three most important ways to move voters now and Cheeto Jesus is winning two of the three.

[stopbush]

3. !

[auntpurl]

4. Yes, that's really reflected in the polls.

Wait.

[Lord Magus]

6. But the polls all show him being absolutely walloped.

To the point that the wingnuts are literally so desperate that they try to claim Twitter followers & Facebook likes are a better indicator than polls.

[moose65]

15. I certainly hope so!

I would love it if they decided that TV ads were a waste of money. I despise those things!

[caquillo]

20. You can't be serious

Or are you just being a contrarian?

[oswaldactedalone]

22. Very serious

and the fact that Clinton's TV ads have not moved the needle even one point in her favor makes my point. Trump's campaign may be a joke but he's trying something, or stumbled into something, that's never been used to the extent he's using it. Social media allows millions of people to hear the same message at nearly the same time. There's no other way to explain the mumber of Trump supporters and the intensity of their support.
Granted, he's effing up the news cycle with his craziness, but there's no doubt he dominates the news cycle on a daily basis.
I wish Clinton's campaign ads would attack Cheeto harder. So far, she's been pretty gentle and relying on subtlety to make the point. He's set himself up to be attacked ferociously and we should take advantage of it. The Thug Party and their minons would surely to it to us with much less ammuntion at their disposal.

[Cracklin Charlie]

5. There's not much of a campaign, really.

And what campaign organization exists seems disorganized and erratic, much like the candidate himself.

It would seem that he really did think he could win the presidency with Twitter alone.

[Wellstone ruled]

7. Trumps campaign to this point has been

using the Media as his free advertiser. Most of the so called Correspondents are suckers for the 30 second filler. They have to earn their pay checks and the Producers of so called Infotainment News need filler. Anything salacious to capture eye balls.

Appears he has Conned these suckers for about one and half billion in free promo time.

[blue neen]

8. The NRA is running ads for him in PA.

Actually, they don't mention Trump. They just use hateful fear-mongering to go after Hillary.

[randome]

9. The GOP has been so inept for so long, it was inevitable that a perfect storm would form.

Trump steps into the 'eye of the storm' and does still more damage and there is no one in authority who will try and stop him. Oh, they will bristle and make noise and disavow him but every single one of those GOP fuckers is hoping that someone else makes Trump stop.

The result is that the storm continues to do widespread damage.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Meredith McIver approves of this post.[/center][/font][hr]

[moose65]

16. You know, that's true!

The Republicans have been getting crazier and crazier over the last few years. I don't think it's possible to continue that race to the bottom - something had to give! When people generally hate the government and have no faith in it, is it any wonder that they don't really give a shit about campaigning?

[brush]

10. It's amateur hour with the Trump campaign

He thinks he smarter than everyone else and can win a national election with tweets out of his building in New York.

His surrogates on TV are not even second rate with their embarrassing inaccurate pronouncements made in trying to defend his embarrassing inaccurate pronouncements, yet he doesn't fire them.

He doesn't have field offices in some states and only shoestring operations in others — no GOTV effort on any note.

Party of it is actual professional political operatives won't work for him because it would damage their reputation in the business.

I say let him proceed, governor.

[C_U_L8R]

11. Stealing all the oxygen

and seeming not realizing he's being rope-a-doped.
He's boxing himself out and everyone is getting tired of his schtick
and are increasingly tuning him out. All he can do is come out
with bigger bombast and dig himself in even deeper.
A brilliant strategist, Trump is not. He's just a loudmouth lout.

[sofa king]

12. He's a scammer. His campaign is a for-profit scam.

We already know that his "contributions" to his campaign have actually been loans, which probably he pays back first, probably with exorbitant interest, from other donations. Before he winds up his campaign, he can change its financial structure to a (c)-4 campaign, move that money to another (c)-4, keep the money and not even have to report it to the IRS. (See the Stephen Colbert Ssh! Fund)

Trump never pays for labor, if he can avoid it. Therefore his on-the-ground campaigns are likely run by volunteers who don't receive payment, or pay themselves through the money they generate. Imagine the level of competence and ethics of a Trump volunteer, and that perfectly explains why a ground campaign is not observable.

He's already paved the excuse-way, too, imperiously demanding a 50-state campaign strategy from the RNC, which was rejected out of hand. In other words he is demanding financial and administrative support from other entities so that when he doesn't get it he can blame them, while making a tidy profit.

It's doing wonders for us at every level. Money that does go to Trump isn't spent, because the object is to keep the money. That money, in turn, cannot be spent on down-ticket races, starving Republican Congressional candidates. The already intellect-starved GOP in turn cannot distribute expertise, as some political operatives are completely lost in damage control at the top, and most others stick with established Members of Congress, like John McCain, who should be gliding through safe campaigns. They are entirely dependent upon sagging gerrymandering, now, and while I still think it's likely to hold the House for them, it won't in four years.

Back when I was naive and unable to see the depths to which the Republican Party would sink, I said that Mitt Romney might prove to be the worst candidate in American history if his tax problems bled into subsequent elections. That didn't happen, but the same criteria apply to Donald Trump. If his badness permanently cripples the GOP in 2018 and 2020, we'll be able to conclusively say that the was the worst candidate ever and primarily responsible for the destruction of the Republican Party, may they burn in Hell.

[moose65]

17. I've thought about that, too.

What happens to donated money that isn't spent on campaigns? Surely Trump won't be allowed to just keep it!

[sofa king]

21. My limited understanding suggests...

That the money can be kept for future campaigns or donated to other political campaigns. My guess is that it would be donated to a 501 (c) 4 PAC, then dispersed to a second PAC, which makes the money undocumented and un-reportable. Then it becomes a slush fund that can be pocketed, tax-free.

However, I need to point out that all I know of this comes from Stephen Colbert's campaign in 2012, when he did exactly that and then publicly distributed his funds among several charities. It was legal then and I don't think anything has changed since, but I don't have any reputable sources to cite.

[Imperialism Inc.]

13. I saw a Trump/Pence ad yesterday here in Ohio

It was a pretty generic "going to create a bazillion jobs" type commercial. That's the only one I've seen from them.

[ReformedGOPer]

14. I live in northeast PA,

so called "Trump country", and the airwaves have been filled (since the beginning of summer) with Hillary's commercials. They are the commercials that feature Trump saying things, i.e.-Children are watching, Letterman and the ties, etc.

I've seen a couple from some super pac against Hillary, but they don't even mention Trump.

[moose65]

18. I haven't seen a single ad

From a Trump PAC. I've really not seen many Trump bumper stickers or yard signs, although I do see a few Hillary stickers and signs here and there. I live in NW NC, normally a Republican area but I'm in a college town.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

19. Ivanka was sent to connect with Putin's current girlfriend in Europe.

And, no that is not a joke.

The campaign has been busy. Paying itself with donations. His casinos, his hotels, his children - he pays them all and a lot.