Roughly speaking, he must fix three problems. First, his me-me-me ego can be a turn-off to Main Street Republicans who are culturally wary of braggarts, so he needs to talk less about himself and more about the Americans he’s trying to enlist. Off the cuff is interesting until he wanders off into the weeds of TrumpLand.
Second, his stumbles and lack of knowledge on foreign affairs give cold shivers to policy and intellectual conservatives. He needs to develop a brain trust that can get him up to speed on major hot spots. Respected advisers can also act as surrogates to comfort others who don’t know or trust a candidate.
A third problem is Trump’s relationship with congressional Republicans, which is somewhere between frosty and nonexistent. The aim of holding the Senate should be a common denominator, especially with the Supreme Court in the balance. As virtual head of his party, Trump would need to keep congressional candidates’ interests in mind.
Now is the time to address those concerns and stop making new enemies. Already he faces upwards of $20 million in negative ads in Florida that aim to hand the winner-take-all delegate pot to Marco Rubio. And there’s talk that Rubio and Ted Cruz will take a dive in Ohio so Gov. John Kasich doesn’t have to split the anti-Trump vote there.
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