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Inside Trump’s Unique Campaign Strategy

May 6, 2016 at 8:48 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 97 Comments

To get a sense of why Trump is following an unusual playbook all his own, the Washington Post spoke with longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone:

Said Stone: “Trump is going to eschew everything the establishment and the press think he should be doing to have a total grassroots communications strategy. He’ll be all over the media, doing as many interviews as he can, calling into radio shows, and having wall-to-wall rallies that get broadcast on the cable channels. Remember, those rallies also get you to dominate the local news. So you’re all over the local channels, all over the national, wall-to-wall and free.”

Stone didn’t always agree with Trump’s tactics: “I told him it couldn’t work. I was skeptical. An adviser telling someone that you could win a presidential campaign by not spending much at all on ads? By simply going on TV? It was a historic calculation. But he did it. A blunt speaking style, a repetition on three issues, and you combine that with a sour and suffering electorate and it all worked.”

Trump Has a Surprise Under His Taco Salad

May 6, 2016 at 8:18 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 48 Comments

If Donald Trump sending out a photo of himself eating a taco bowl with the caption “I love Hispanics” wasn’t strange enough, the Independent Journal Review discovered a photo of Trump’s ex-wife Marla Maples in a bikini on his desk in the photo.

Democrats Ready a Flood of Ads

May 6, 2016 at 8:10 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 61 Comments

Associated Press: “Priorities USA, the lead super PAC backing Hillary Clinton, has already reserved $91 million in television advertising that will start next month and continue through Election Day. In addition, Clinton’s campaign and Priorities USA have both debuted online videos that cast Trump in a negative light — a preview of what voters will see on TV over the next six months.”

“So far, Priorities USA is the only group on either side that has rolled out such an ambitious advertising plan geared toward the general election. The group’s leaders say they’re trying to avoid what they see as the core mistake made by Trump’s Republican rivals — not pushing hard enough against him until it was too late.”

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Trump Has Rebounded Before

May 6, 2016 at 8:03 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 50 Comments

Amy Walter: “Trump and Clinton have huge liabilities and record-setting disapproval ratings. Trump, however, starts in a deeper hole than Clinton does. He has a proven ability to dig himself out of a hole – remember he started this race with sky high negatives among GOP voters which are now positive. When it comes to understanding and utilizing 21st Century media, he’s the most talented figure of our time. He’s a shape-shifter who can change his tone and his political positions with unprecedented speed and ability.”

Inside Ryan’s Decision to Not Back Trump

May 6, 2016 at 7:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 42 Comments

Politico: “Trump’s campaign was stunned by Ryan’s interview. Earlier on Thursday, campaign sources said, advisers to the candidate had reached out to Ryan’s office with an invitation: Would the speaker be able to meet with Trump for a one-on-one meeting to discuss the fall campaign and the party’s agenda? The invitation was passed on to a staffer, and the campaign didn’t hear back immediately from Ryan’s office.”

“The next thing the Trump campaign knew, there was Ryan on national TV. What just happened, aides asked?”

For members: What Paul Ryan Is Doing

Trump Tells West Virginia Supporters Not to Vote

May 6, 2016 at 7:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 33 Comments

At a rally in West Virginia, Donald Trump proclaimed “I wish the primaries would keep going but I am the only one left” and celebrated by repeatedly urging his supporters to not even bother voting in the state’s upcoming primary and instead “save your vote for the general election in November,” the The Guardian reports.

Trump Rules Out Picking a Democrat

May 6, 2016 at 7:49 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 33 Comments

Despite surrogate Ben Carson telling the Wall Street Journal that Donald Trump would consider an independent or even Democrat for his running mate, the presumptive Republican nominee said he would do no such thing, Politico reports.

Said Trump: “I would rule him out. Or her out.”

He added: “I want to have a great ticket. The Democrats have been in there a long time, the economy is terrible. The real unemployment rate is probably 20 percent. Jobs are leaving. Look at Carrier, look at so many companies. They’re leaving.”

Little Evidence Clinton Broke Rules on Email

May 6, 2016 at 7:44 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 46 Comments

“Prosecutors and FBI agents investigating Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email server have so far found scant evidence that the leading Democratic presidential candidate intended to break classification rules, though they are still probing the case aggressively with an eye on interviewing Clinton herself,” the Washington Post reports.

Perry Endorses Trump for President

May 5, 2016 at 10:10 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 49 Comments

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry told CNN that he will support Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee and will do everything he can do to help him get elected.

Said Perry: “He is not a perfect man. But what I do believe is that he loves this country and he will surround himself with capable, experienced people and he will listen to them. He wasn’t my first choice, wasn’t my second choice, but he is the people’s choice.”

Quote of the Day

May 5, 2016 at 10:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 50 Comments

“The first time anyone ever asked me about the war, about should we go in, because it was a question, are we going in? And I said very weakly, well, blah, blah, blah, yes, I guess.”

— Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News, when confronted with audio showing he initially supported the Iraq war.

What Paul Ryan Is Doing

May 5, 2016 at 7:53 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 17 Comments

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Speaker Paul Ryan’s stunning announcement that he was not ready to endorse Donald Trump for president — even though the billionaire is all but assured of winning the GOP nomination — was a sign that Ryan cares more for his own political future than whether his party wins the White House this year.

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Mary Matalin Changes Political Parties

May 5, 2016 at 7:52 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 39 Comments

Mary Matalin, a high-profile Republican strategist, told Bloomberg that she changed her party registration to Libertarian from Republican.

However, she emphasized that her decision was not connected to Donald Trump’s being the likely Republican presidential nominee.

A Disaster for Republicans

May 5, 2016 at 7:43 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 96 Comments

The Economist: “During its 160-year history, the Republican Party has abolished slavery, provided the votes in Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act and helped bring the cold war to a close. The next six months will not be so glorious. After Indiana’s primary, it is now clear that Republicans will be led into the presidential election by a candidate who said he would kill the families of terrorists, has encouraged violence by his supporters, has a weakness for wild conspiracy theories and subscribes to a set of protectionist and economically illiterate policies that are by turns fantastical and self-harming.”

“The result could be disastrous for the Republican Party and, more important, for America. Even if this is as far as he goes, Mr Trump has already done real damage and will do more in the coming months. Worse, in a two-horse race his chances of winning the presidency are well above zero.”

Trump Hits Back at Ryan

May 5, 2016 at 7:39 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 42 Comments

Donald Trump says he’s not ready to support House Speaker Paul Ryan’s agenda — “a pointed counterpunch after Ryan criticized the presumptive GOP presidential nominee,” The Hill reports.

Said Trump: “I am not ready to support Speaker Ryan’s agenda. Perhaps in the future we can work together and come to an agreement about what is best for the American people. They have been treated so badly for so long that it is about time for politicians to put them first!”

Politico: How Ryan decided to ditch Trump

Romney Will Skip GOP Convention

May 5, 2016 at 5:08 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 48 Comments

Mitt Romney “plans to skip this summer’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland where Donald Trump will be officially nominated — an unusual move that underscores the deep unease many Republican leaders have about the brash celebrity mogul as their standard bearer,” the Washington Post reports.

FBI Interviews Top Clinton Aides

May 5, 2016 at 5:06 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 87 Comments

“Some of Hillary Clinton’s closest aides, including her longtime adviser Huma Abedin, have provided interviews to federal investigators, as the FBI probe into the security of her private email server nears completion,” U.S. officials briefed on the investigation tell CNN.

“The investigation is still ongoing, but so far investigators haven’t found evidence to prove that Clinton willfully violated the law the U.S. officials say. “

Americans Really Don’t Like Trump and Clinton

May 5, 2016 at 4:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 225 Comments

FiveThirtyEight: “The Democratic primary will technically march on, but Hillary Clinton is almost certainly going to be her party’s nominee. Same with Donald Trump. And voters don’t appear thrilled at the prospect: Clinton and Trump are both more strongly disliked than any nominee at this point in the past 10 presidential cycles.”

“These are people who don’t just like or dislike the candidates, they really like or dislike them. No past candidate comes close to Clinton, and especially Trump, in terms of engendering strong dislike a little more than six months before the election.”

Ryan Not Ready to Back Trump

May 5, 2016 at 4:53 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 48 Comments

Speaker Paul Ryan, the nation’s highest-ranking elected Republican, told CNN that he was “not ready” to endorse Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.

Said Ryan: “I think conservatives want to know: Does he share our values and our principles? There’s a lot of questions conservatives are going to want answers to.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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