So, where do we stand on the eve of the Republican National Convention that is set to nominate Donald J. Trump for president?
* The presumptive nominee has about 1/40th of the money on hand that his Democratic opponent has.
* He is losing senior staff members.
* Trump’s “short list” of prospective vice-presidential picks hasn’t been winnowed much from anything resembling a long list.
* Key congressional Republicans are still declining to sing the nominee’s virtues.
* The five previous Republican presidential nominees are not going to attend the convention.
Hmmm. How’s it going for the nominee? Not good.
I’m having difficulty grasping how this major-party presidential nominee is going to keep his campaign from unraveling.
Who’s going to give the keynote speech at the GOP convention? That’s the speech that’s supposed to set the tone for the campaign to follow. These assignments usually go to up-and-coming political stars. Sometimes a shining-light governor gets to deliver the speech.
Who’s lining up for that task in Cleveland?
With so few actual GOP luminaries even committing to being present at the convention, I am left to wonder: How in the world is this event going to unfold?
The guy with the toughest job of all surely has to be House Speaker Paul Ryan, the convention chairman who has to figure out a way to manage the mayhem that seems set to ensue.
Ryan cannot even bring himself to speak with any sort of enthusiasm about the nominee he has “endorsed.” And to my ears, his “endorsement” is one of those you hear from politicians giving it through gritted teeth.
I’ve seen the polling that puts Trump within striking distance of Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. I’ve seen the surveys that suggest Clinton has a much broader path toward election than Trump, but with Trump still being able to trumpet some success.
But the GOP nominee has little campaign money, virtually no organization, no apparent strategy to win those so-called “battleground states.”
Trump has promised an unconventional campaign for the presidency.
Boy howdy! He’s delivering on that promise.
In spades.