LF: All just an act? Trump's team tells GOP he has been 'projecting an image' and 'the part he's been playing is now evolving' into one that will attract more general election voters

Title: All just an act? Trump's team tells GOP he has been 'projecting an image' and 'the part he's been playing is now evolving' into one that will attract more general election voters
Source: Daily Mail Online
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art ... ry-seaside-resort-Florida.html
Published: Apr 22, 2016
Author: Dailymail.com Reporter and Associated Pr
Post Date: 2016-04-22 19:03:50 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 1696
Comments: 14

Donald Trump's chief lieutenants told skeptical Republican leaders on Thursday that the GOP front-runner has been 'projecting an image' so far in the 2016 primary season and 'the part that he's been playing is now evolving' in a way that will improve his standing among general election voters.

The message, delivered behind closed doors in a private briefing, is part of the campaign's intensifying effort to convince party leaders that Trump will moderate his tone in the coming months to help deliver big electoral gains this fall, despite his contentious ways.

Even as his team pressed Trump's case, he raised fresh concern among some conservatives by speaking against North Carolina's 'bathroom law', which directs transgender people to use the bathroom that matches the sex on their birth certificates.

Trump also came out against the federal government's plan to replace President Andrew Jackson with the civil-rights figure Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.

The developments came as the GOP's messy fight for the White House spilled into a seaside resort in south Florida.

While candidates in both parties fanned out across the country before important primary contests in the Northeast, Hollywood's Diplomat Resort & Spa was transformed into a palm-treed political battleground.

Trump's newly hired senior aide, Paul Manafort, made the case to Republican National Committee members that Trump has two personalities: one in private and one onstage.

'When he's out on the stage, when he's talking about the kinds of things he's talking about on the stump, he's projecting an image that's for that purpose,' Manafort said in a private briefing.

'You'll start to see more depth of the person, the real person. You'll see a real different guy,' he said.

'He gets it,' Manafort said of Trump's need to moderate his personality. 'The part that he's been playing is evolving into the part that now you've been expecting, but he wasn't ready for, because he had first to complete the first phase. The negatives will come down. The image is going to change.'

The message was welcomed by some party officials but criticized by others who suggested it raised doubts about his authenticity.

'He's trying to moderate. He's getting better,' said Ben Carson, a Trump ally who was part of the GOP's front-runner's RNC outreach team.

While Trump's top advisers were promising Republican leaders that the GOP front-runner would moderate his message, the candidate was telling voters he wasn't ready to act presidential.

Trump raised fresh concern among some conservatives by speaking against North Carolina's 'bathroom law'

Donald Trump strategist Paul J Manafort, left, chats with former presidential candidate Ben Carson as they head to a Trump for president reception at the Republican National Committee Spring Meeting on Thursday

'I just don't know if I want to do it yet,' Trump said during a raucous rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Thursday that was frequently interrupted by protesters.

'At some point, I'm going to be so presidential that you people will be so bored,' he said, predicting that the size of his crowds would dwindle if he dialed back his rhetoric.

There was evidence of drama on the Democratic side as well.

Prominent Southern Democrats urged Bernie Sanders to stop dismissing Hillary Clinton's landslide primary wins across the South, where the front-runner's popularity among non-whites has helped fuel her success.

Sanders said the results in the South 'distort reality' because they came from the country's 'most conservative region'.

Don Fowler of South Carolina, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and other Clinton supporters told Sanders in a letter that 'our national Democratic leaders' should 'invest in our races and causes - to amplify our voices, not diminish them'.

Yet as Clinton's grasp on the Democratic nomination tightens, Trump's overwhelming Republican delegate lead has done little to calm concerns from GOP leaders, gathered at the resort for the party's meeting.

As Trump continues to rail against 'a rigged' nomination process, he sent Manafort and his newly hired political director, Rick Wiley, to help improve relationships with party officials at the meeting.

'He might not win some of these blue states, but you can make the Democrats spend money and time,' Wiley said.

Trump's team also signaled to RNC members a fresh willingness to dip into the New York real estate mogul's personal fortune to fund his presidential bid, in addition to helping the national committee raise money, a promise that comes just as Trump launches his first big television advertising campaign in a month.

Republican presidential candidate Sen Ted Cruz, R-Texas, gestures as he speaks during a news conference on Wednesday at the Republican National Committee Spring Meeting in Hollywood, Florida

His campaign reserved about $2million worth of air time in soon-to-vote Pennsylvania and Indiana, advertising tracker Kantar Media's CMAG shows.

'He's willing to spend what is necessary to finish this out. That's a big statement from him,' Manafort said in the briefing.

Trump is increasingly optimistic about his chances in five states holding primary contests on Tuesday: Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.

He is now the only Republican candidate who can possibly collect the 1,237-delegate majority needed to claim the nomination before the party's July convention.

Chief rival Ted Cruz hopes Trump will fall short of a nomination-clinching delegate majority so that he can turn enough delegates to his side at the convention to give him the prize.

The political posturing came as Trump sparked new criticism by addressing the debate over which bathrooms transgender people should use.

Speaking at a town-hall event on NBC's Today show on Thursday, Trump said North Carolina's bathroom law has caused unnecessary strife and transgender people should be able to choose which bathroom to use.

'There have been very few complaints the way it is,' Trump said. 'People go, they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate.'

Cruz lashed out at Trump's 'support of grown men using women's restrooms'. The Texas senator called Trump's position 'a reckless policy that will endanger our loved ones.'

Trump also said the plan to swap Jackson for Tubman on the $20 bill is an act of 'pure political correctness'.

BOYCOTT PAYPAL AND CLOSE YOUR PP ACCOUNTS NOW! ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO SO,TOO!

Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)

American Indians had open borders. Look at how well that worked out for them.

There are three kinds of people in the world: those that can add and those that can't

Campaigning IS his day job. He's getting 3 grand a day to run for president,plus getting paid for renting out his private jet and other property to the campaign.

BOYCOTT PAYPAL AND CLOSE YOUR PP ACCOUNTS NOW! ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO SO,TOO!

Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)

American Indians had open borders. Look at how well that worked out for them.

There are three kinds of people in the world: those that can add and those that can't

With the added benefit of greasing the skids for Hillary "she'd make a terrific president" Clinton.

A government strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them.

Not necessarily an act but rather a different stage with a different set of goals. In life we may have the same heart but how, when and where we present it may be VERY different. Say for example your love for cars among car enthusiast vs another audience. Does not make you fake just a different time and audience.

Trump stated himself that he has a stage persona - which all politicians have - Reagan the actor for example. They are not talking about policy.

In the primaries, Republicans always run to the right and Democrats always run to the left, to bring in their parties' bases. In the general election, they always run back to the center, because the candidates who don't end up with Goldwater and McGovern - utterly blown out by an American electorate that is moderate.

It's the old, old political axiom -- Run to the right in the primaries, run to the center in the general.

BOYCOTT PAYPAL AND CLOSE YOUR PP ACCOUNTS NOW! ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO SO,TOO!

Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)

American Indians had open borders. Look at how well that worked out for them.

Trump:“We’ve got to get rid of the $19 trillion in debt.” Which led to this exchange:

TRUMP: I think I could do it fairly quickly, because of the fact the numbers . . . .

WOODWARD: Would you ever be open to tax increases as part of that, to solve the problem?

TRUMP: I don’t think I’ll need to. The power is trade. Our deals are so bad.

FORTUNE: You’ve said you plan to pay off the country’s debt in 10 years. How’s that possible?

TRUMP: No, I didn’t say 10 years. First of all, with low interest rates, you can think in terms of refinancings, and get it down. I believe you can do certain things to pay off the debt more quickly. The most important thing is to make sure the economy stays strong. You can do it in smaller chunks. You can do it in larger chunks. And you can do it in refinancings.

TRUMP: It depends on how aggressive you want to be. I’d rather not be so aggressive. Don’t forget: We have to rebuild the infrastructure of our country. We have to rebuild our military, which is being decimated by bad decisions. We have to do a lot of things. We have to reduce our debt, and the best thing we have going now is that interest rates are so low that lots of good things can be done that aren’t being done, amazingly.

"If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools." Plato

He's running as the "man for everybody,who doesn't have a position he won't pick or change."

When was the last time YOU heard American voters being described as "thoughtful",or even "smart"?

BOYCOTT PAYPAL AND CLOSE YOUR PP ACCOUNTS NOW! ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO SO,TOO!

Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)

American Indians had open borders. Look at how well that worked out for them.

Meanwhile - Trump Mortgage: FAIL But he's going to micro manage the global economy with "sliding scales" because "who know finance better than me".