The Trump campaign is in shambles. Compared to Hillary and the Democrats, Trump has far less organization, far less manpower, and above all, far less money. According to one report, the Dems have a total of $94 million on hand while Trump’s campaign has $1.3 million. With this type of financial advantage, Hillary will be able to spend over $100 million on vicious negative advertising, that will mainly go unanswered — except for on Trump’s free Twitter account.
The effects of these grim realities are just now beginning to take their toll on the key all-important swing states. The latest Quinnipiac University Poll shows Clinton leading her presumptive Republican rival 47-39 percent in the Sunshine State. That’s up from a near-draw in similar polling a month ago. The former secretary of state also has closed Trump’s modest lead in Ohio, with the latest poll showing the candidates at a 40-40 percent tie.
Just yesterday, in an attempt to reorganize and right the ship, Trump told campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, “You’re fired!” But will that matter at present?
An ancient Jewish aphorism is: “You can never have enough friends, but even one enemy is far too many.” Lewandowski’s winning strategy in the primary battles was, “Let Trump be Trump.” Although the approach was indeed successful, the victory came at a terrible cost. As if having the Democrats for sworn enemies wasn’t enough, Trump managed to alienate a long list of influential people who might have otherwise been sympathetic.
Establishment Republicans such as ex-Presidents Bush One and Two, as well as Mitt Romney, pledged not to attend the Republican Convention. Trump’s stinging personal insults against fellow Republican candidates may have helped him win the nomination, but all of them have followers, and they will shy away from Trump. Incessant derision of the Republican-led Congress antagonized many of those elected officials. Trump said nasty things about Megyn Kelly, one of the top personalities at Fox News. Constantly berating the illegal immigrants and implying that they are mainly criminals made sworn enemies of the country’s Hispanics, and this damage was further compounded by Trump’s racist attacks against Judge Gonzalo Curiel. Promising to ban all Muslim immigrants based on their religion alone didn’t help either… et cetera.
Trump’s presidential campaign is now unsalvageable.
When the Cleveland Cavaliers were down 3 games to 1 in the recent NBA finals, they refocused on what had gotten them so far, they got back to it, and went on to an historic victory. Much of Trump’s success to date has been based on his Lewandowski-inspired putdowns and insults of almost everyone blocking the path to victory. That left Trump with almost no friends and supporters. As for the Republicans who still back Trump, they are mainly motivated by the feeling that as bad as Trump is, Hillary would even be worse. Unlike the Cleveland Cavaliers, Trump reverting to the old Lewandowski strategy going forward will not secure a victory. Rather, it will only hurt the Republican party even more. At this point, there are only two remaining unknowns in a projected Trump/Hillary electoral contest: whether the Trump election debacle will cost the Republicans control of both houses of Congress as well, and how many liberals Hillary will be able to place on the Supreme Court.
What then should Donald Trump do?
He should ask for forgiveness from those he antagonized; and then gracefully abdicate his candidacy. At the same time, he should ask all of the delegates pledged to him to throw their support behind Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan. Mr. Ryan is likable and eminently electable. He has few enemies, his reputation is unblemished, and he is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to the issues of the day and the art of governing. Especially significant is that Speaker Ryan is a pragmatic and principled intellectual; unlike so many others who govern us, Mr. Ryan has articulated specific policies on how to tame the reckless and dangerous levels of government spending and debt (which would likely balloon even more disgracefully in a Clinton presidency).
Mr. Ryan has repeatedly stated that he is not currently a presidential candidate. Nevertheless, at this critical juncture, it would be morally incumbent upon him to recant and accept the calling. With Mrs. Clinton edging ever further Leftward, her victory would essentially guarantee eight more years of rule by Obama, both at home and abroad.
If Mr. Trump offers and Speaker Ryan accepts, both could go down in history as the individuals who saved our country.