Donald Trump Campaign Reboot

He just needs to be disciplined, although not too much so, or he'll lose his signature appeal.

Mostly, though, he needs to stay focused on the key issues, hammering on the economy and Hillary Clinton-Democrat Party corruption.

But see the Wall Street Journal, "Donald Trump Tries a Campaign Reboot":

Donald Trump is trying to quickly reset his presidential campaign to address worsening poll numbers and growing isolation from influential members of the Republican Party.

At weekend rallies, the GOP nominee read from a hand-held script and offered endorsements for the re-elections of a trio of Capitol Hill Republicans whom he had toyed with rebuffing. On Monday, he will head to Detroit to deliver an economic policy address that is expected to draw contrasts with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Many in Mr. Trump’s party have been clamoring for weeks to see these kinds of adjustments. If he is to persuade Republican skeptics to buy back into his campaign, just weeks before the crucial post-Labor Day stage, the unorthodox, first-time candidate now must show he can make the changes stick.

Part of the issue for the New York businessman is that he has run his campaign much like his family business, with his grown children as his top counselors and surrogates. That has meant he hasn’t developed a strong connective tissue to party stalwarts and activists that can sustain a candidate through difficult times.

Reports of Republicans leaving the party, lining up behind Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson or even backing Mrs. Clinton gained momentum last week, after the nominee’ criticized the parents of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq.

“The friendly fire within the Republican Party over the last week has been extremely counterproductive,” said veteran GOP strategist Dave Carney, who isn’t involved in the Trump campaign but says he will vote for him. “In modern presidential politics, this election is an outlier in terms of deterioration of support.”


Mr. Trump hopes for a reboot with his Detroit speech, which will talk about “the tepid economy under Obama and Clinton, versus the kind of growth economy that Mr. Trump wants to build,” Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort said Sunday on Fox News.

“We’re comfortable we’ll get the agenda and the narrative of the campaign back on where it belongs,” Mr. Manafort added.

Mr. Trump in his speech is expected to give broad strokes about his economic plan, particularly to underscore his support for tax cuts. He is also likely to reiterate his plan to create a single top business tax rate that would apply to corporations and to businesses that pay taxes through their owners’ individual returns.

The candidate isn’t likely to offer a detailed revision of his previously announced plan for big tax cuts. Advisers have been working on an overhaul of that plan to address criticism it would rapidly expand the federal deficit, but that revision isn’t yet ready, advisers said.

Mr. Trump has shown an ability to survive rough patches, and he and his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, have stressed party unity in recent days. At a rally in New Hampshire Saturday night, Mr. Trump largely stuck to lines of attack against Mrs. Clinton that bind most Republicans together.

Still, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, both of whom are facing election challenges, didn’t appear on stage with their party’s nominee during weekend rallies in their respective states...

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