Trump’s New Man in Town
The Trump campaign hired Paul Manafort as some kind of campaign manager around March 15 of this year (Week 11). The New York Times took notice with a piece on March 28 calling him a convention and delegate manager set to work with the team.
Donald J. Trump, girding for a long battle over presidential delegates and a potential floor fight at the Cleveland convention, has enlisted the veteran Republican strategist Paul J. Manafort to lead his delegate-corralling efforts, according to people briefed on Mr. Trump’s plans.
Mr. Trump confirmed the hire in a brief telephone interview. “Yes,” he said, “it is true.”
Mr. Manafort, 66, is among the few political hands in either party with direct experience managing nomination fights: As a young Republican operative, he helped manage the 1976 convention floor for Gerald Ford in his showdown with Ronald Reagan, the last time Republicans entered a convention with no candidate having clinched the nomination.
Then came the Week from Hell (Week 13), March 28- April 3, and the humiliating primary loss in Wisconsin on April 5th by 13 points and 145,000 votes. A pretty classic ass whipping, to tell the truth. Trump was feeling poorly enough to not make a concession speech, gracious or otherwise, his Twitter rants grew noticeably quieter, and he was in semi-seclusion for most of the week.
Trump did hold a rally in Bethpage, Long Island on Wednesday, April 6th.
On April 7th, the campaign declared a reboot and announced additional duties for Manafort, including some kind of upgrade to his manager statue. He would report only to the boss, and open (Glory Halleluiah) a Washington office for the non-politician Trump and his campaign. Poor little Corey was publically hard to find during the week.
From Catherine Ho in the April 7 Washington Post:
Over a 40-year career as a lobbyist and political consultant, Manafort and his firms have advised, in no particular order, a business group tied to Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator of the Philippines; Viktor Yanukovych, the ousted Ukrainian president and ally of Vladimir Putin; and Lynden Pindling, the former Bahamian prime minister who was accused of ties to drug traffickers.
On Thursday, Trump announced that Manafort would play an increasingly influential role in his campaign as it heads toward a possibly contested Republican convention in Cleveland. In a statement, the business mogul announced that “he is consolidating the functions related to the nomination process” and “assigning” them to Manafort.
“Mr. Manafort will oversee, manage, and be responsible for all activities that pertain to Mr. Trump’s delegate process and the Cleveland Convention,” the statement said. “Mr. Manafort will direct the campaign’s activities in areas including delegate operations, Washington, DC outreach and the DC office opening next week.”
On Friday, April 8th, Manafort offered some more details about his new role as reported by Nolan McCaskill in Politico
Paul Manafort may listen to campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, but he only answers to one man: Donald Trump.
“I work directly for the boss,” Manafort said bluntly on CNN on Friday. “I listen to everybody, but I have one man whose voice is louder than everybody else’s.”
The Republican front-runner’s campaign on Thursday expanded the role of Manafort, a senior adviser who was initially tapped to assist with collecting delegates ahead of what’s likely to be a contested convention in July.
According to the Trump campaign, the real estate mogul is “consolidating the functions related to the nomination process and assigning them to” Manafort, who will be responsible for oversight and management of all activities relating to the delegate process and convention.
But Manafort’s seemingly innocuous comments are likely an implicit shot at Lewandowski, with whom POLITICO has reported he has clashed repeatedly. Trump’s campaign said Thursday that in Manafort’s expanded role he would work closely with Lewandowski and deputy campaign manager Michael Glassner, but did not specify who reports to whom.
Manafort suggested the campaign was entering a new phase and praised Trump for what he’s accomplished so far on his run, hailing him as the “first modern presidential candidate” for his use of social media.
“But because [of] the campaign’s coming stages, he also understood that there becomes a time when winning isn’t enough. It’s how you win and how much you win, and he recognized this was the time,” Manafort said, explaining his recent hire and broadened role.
Manafort said that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who won Wisconsin by a double-digit margin on Tuesday, has seen his best days and declared that, “if we run the right campaign,” the primary will be over before the convention. Trump is strongest in states he needs to win, Manafort argued, citing New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Connecticut as examples.
“The reality is this convention process will be over with sometime in June — probably June 7. And it’ll be apparent to the world that Trump is over the 1,237 number and at that point in time, when it is apparent, everything’s gonna come together,” said Manafort, who added that he was confident “because I know the votes.”
“You have to understand what the game is. If the game is a second, third or fourth ballot, then what he’s doing is clever,” Manafort said of Cruz. “But if there’s only one ballot, what he’s doing is meaningless, because these stolen delegates as he calls them — some of whom we’re going to be able to do as well in the next couple of weeks — they still have to vote for Trump on the first ballot.”
“Maybe Cruz will have a chance on the convention floor to give a speech,” Manafort predicted.
Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski had a bad week. Here he is with Donald Trump outside at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Saturday.
WSJ Corey Out in the Rain photo
On Saturday, April 9 (Week 14), Trump emerged from his den for a lightening 30 minute visit to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Around the country, in delegate selection matters the Trump campaign, its operatives, and mangers did poorly in five out of five contests: Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, South Carolina and Indiana.
These are the complex delegate selection meetings and state conventions where the actual people to fill the delegate slates are chosen . They may be bound to one candidate for one ballot as a result of a preference primary or caucus, but then are free agents for subsequent ballots if there is not a first ballot majority for any candidate at the July convention. This is the arcane science in which Manafort is supposed to be a true 40-year expert.
From Zeke Miller Time Sunday 4/10/16:
Donald Trump’s effort to reset his campaign following defeat in Wisconsin showed no signs of paying off this weekend, as a series of technical failures by his campaign set his hopes back even further.
From Thursday to Saturday, Trump suffered setbacks in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, South Carolina and Indiana that raise new doubts about his campaign’s preparedness for the long slog of delegate hunting as the GOP race approaches a possible contested convention. He lost the battle on two fronts. Cruz picked up 28 pledged delegates in Colorado. In the other states, rival campaigns were able to place dozens of their own loyalists in delegate spots pledged to Trump on the first ballot. This will matter if Trump fails to win a majority of delegates on the first ballot in Cleveland, as his delegates defect once party rules allow them to choose the candidate they want to nominate.
Not an auspicious beginning for a true professional, even if he has only been in the job for about four weeks (Week 11 through Week 14). The final delegates will be selected in California on June 7th (Week 23). That means Manafort has about eight weeks left to fix things, and he has already been Boss for three or four weeks. So, about 1/3 of the total time from his hire date has elapsed. That performance is not an impressive beginning for a true professional.
Manafort and Meet the Press
In any case, Sunday April 10th, was Manafort’s first big news show day since his managerial status upgrade on April 7th, and he appeared in person on NBC’s Meet the Press with moderator Chuck Todd. He promptly ducked the issue of threatening delegates at the convention. Given an opening, he launched an attack on Cruz’ campaign for using “Gestapo tactics” in the pre-convention delegate skirmishes. Beyond the too-purple prose of Nazi symbolism, Manafort blamed the other, declared Trump the victim, and decried the convention process as unfair. He knows better, since he has used very similar rules himself in past Republican Convention fights starting as far back as in 1976.
In his first Sunday show interview since taking on an expanded role in Donald Trump’s campaign, Paul Manafort was quick to raise questions about the tactics Sen. Ted Cruz’ campaign is using to secure delegates.
After being asked whether threatening delegates is fair game in the hunt for the 1,237 required to secure the republican nomination, Manafort responded, “It’s not my style, and it’s not Donald Trump’s style. … But it is Ted Cruz’s style.” He then called the Cruz campaign’s methods “Gestapo tactics, scorched-earth tactics.”
Manafort, who has advised Republican presidential campaigns going back to Pres. Gerald Ford, would not outline the rules he is playing by either. When pressed on whether paying for a delegate’s golf membership or trip to the convention was in the realm possibility he answered, “Well, there’s the law, and then there’s ethics, and then there’s getting votes. I’m not going to get into what tactics are used.”
From the NBC transcript:
CHUCK TODD: What is fair game to win a delegate? Is threatening a fair game? Is threats a fair game?
PAUL MANAFORT: It’s not my style, and it’s not Donald Trump’s style.
CHUCK TODD: What is —
PAUL MANAFORT: But it is Ted Cruz’s style. And that’s going to wear thin very fast.
CHUCK TODD: Do you think he’s threatening delegates?
PAUL MANAFORT: Well, he’s threatening, you go to these county conventions, and you see the tactics, Gestapo tactics, the scorched-earth tactics–
CHUCK TODD: Gestapo tactics? That’s a strong word.
PAUL MANAFORT: Well, you look at, we’re going to be filing several protests because reality is, you know, they are not playing by the rules. But frankly, that’s the side game. Because the only game I’m focusing on right now is getting delegates. And the games that have happened, even this past weekend, you know, are not important to the long-term game of how do we get to 1,237.
CHUCK TODD: But is he, I guess what is fair game and getting a delegate? Is paying for their convention costs, is it– golf club memberships? What’s fair and unfair in this? What’s ethical, what’s unethical?
PAUL MANAFORT: Well, there’s the law, and then there’s ethics, and then there’s getting votes. I’m not going to get into what tactics are used. I happen to think the best way we’re going to get delegates is to have Donald Trump be exposed to delegates, let the delegates hear what he says. He’s done very well so far in putting himself in position by virtue of communicating.
You know, the key I think for delegates coming up, especially the unbound delegates, is the electability question. And right now, we’re in a fight, and this fight is, you know, causes for negative for all the candidates. But there’s no question in my mind, there’s not one state you can look at that Romney won or lost in 2012 that Cruz can win. Not one. But Trump changes the whole map. As we get into those arguments, which is the endgame of the endgame, that persuasion starts to have an impact.
What New Yorkers Expect Value-Wise
Charles Dillon (Casey) Stengel was the iconic, beloved Manager of the New York Yankees during the golden 1950’s, one of the greatest extended runs of success in American sports history.
Casey Stengel Plaque at Yankee Stadium
Stengel was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1890. He was a left-handed fielder and batter who played outfield for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1912-1917), and the New York Giants (1921-1923) among others. He managed the New York Yankees from 1949-1960 (winning 10 pennants, 7 World Series titles, and an unprecedented 5 in a row from 1049-1953). He came out of retirement to manage the expansion New York Mets from 1962-1965. He also managed the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1934-1936. His baseball career lasted 54 years.
As a player he hit the first home run by a Brooklyn player at Ebbets Field, their home stadium in 1913. He also hit the first World Series home run at the old Yankee Stadium in 1923 while playing for the New York Giants against the Yankees.
Casey is Mr. New York Baseball, start to finish.
In the spring of 1953, after the Yankees had won four straight World Series victories, he made the following observation, which could just as easily have been made by The Professor’s prize pupil, Yogi Berra (who would also become famous with many laughably quotable statements): “If we’re going to win the pennant, we’ve got to start thinking we’re not as smart as we think we are.”
Here’s what a real New York professional would say, in Manafort’s place
Look, Chuck. Our team, frankly, got its collective ass kicked in Wisconsin. We have changed our line-up to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Remember, we are still in first place by a comfortable margin. We have another important three-game series against Boston starting on April 19th here in New York. I am confident we will win convincingly against their team and secure the American League pennant this year.
New Yorkers don’t like professionals who look around to blame someone else, or the Umpire, or the Major League rulebook, or the weather for a loss. They don’t want to hear a public pity party. It’s the wrong tone for a top-class winner. Such behavior is not consistent with New York values. So Trump had a bad couple of weeks. He and his campaign managers (all of them) should just man up and deal with it.
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
As Simon & Garfunkel remind us in Mrs. Robinson:
Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon.
Going to the candidates’ debate.
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you’ve got to choose
Every way you look at this you lose.
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio,
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
What’s that you say, Mrs. Robinson.
Jolting Joe has left and gone away,
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
Listen to Simon & Garfunkel sing Mrs. Robinson
Manafort has failed his first test in public as Trump’s shiny new Manager-in-Chief.
A Real Golf Professional and the 2016 Masters Tournament
We know golf is Trump’s real sports passion. He owns 17 courses himself, and reports a 3 handicap, even at age 69. He says he loves the game and the sporting values it represents.
I’m not a big golfing fan. I’ve never warmed to the game. I probably couldn’t play an 18-hole round with a score under 100. Nevertheless, like most sports fans, I have some appreciation for the drama attending major championship events. This past weekend, we were treated to an historic collapse and second place finish by Jordan Spieth, age 22. He was the Masters Campion in 2015, and was ahead in this year’s tournament until the last nine holes on the final day with a lead of 5 strokes.
Then disaster struck.
Let Jordan explain:
Golf Sensation Jordan Spieth Loses Masters After Horrible Meltdown
Spieth, bidding for a second consecutive wire-to-wire win at the Masters and a third major title, had to settle for a share of second place after carding an adventurous one-over 73 that included a quadruple bogey and seven birdies.
The American world number two had stormed five strokes in front with nine holes to play and victory seemingly assured when he bogeyed the 10th and 11th before running up a nightmare seven at the par-three 12th.
“It’s tough, it’s really tough,” Spieth told CBS Sports about his stunning three-hole collapse, his voice cracking with emotion. “Pretty sure I’ll be disappointed with that one.
“A very tough 30 minutes for me that hopefully I will never experience again.”
This accomplished young golfer acted as a true professional. He didn’t whine, didn’t refuse to talk to the press, didn’t walk out of the Green Jacket presentation, didn’t blame the layout of the course, the position of the pins, the gusting wind, the rules, other players, or adverse publicity. He just stepped up and said he had an awful day, and he hoped never to repeat it. Honest and simple.
Trump and Manafort both could take life lessons from this first-class act of a professional sportsman, 40 years their junior
*Casey Stengel got his permanent nickname, in the first instance, from his hometown of Kansas City. Later, it stuck as he was identified with Casey at the Bat. Stengel was particularly special to me as a young boy, as my maternal grandmother, who largely raised me, was born in 1890, and was also an American of German ancestry. I am also a left-handed batter and fielder, and mostly played outfield, with some first base. I was never very good at baseball, but I was a regular starter on a state championship slow-pitch softball team in a fraternal league two years running, in the mid 1960’s when I was a teenager.
Casey Stengel (1953), Manager of the New York Yankees, World Series Champions