Republicans hoped Trump would have something of a ‘reset’ after the convention and move more to the middle to appeal to a broader range of voter. Even Trump said he would be changing and acting more “Presidential”. In an interview with Sean Hannity he said,
“At the right time, I will be so presidential that you’ll call me and you’ll say, ‘Donald, you have to stop that, it’s too much.’”
Don’t hold your breath, it won’t happen.
At the convention party leaders finally embraced the Trump candidacy, hoping Trump would become less like Trump and more like a Presidential nominee. Reince Priebus, Newt Gingrich, and even Paul Ryan backed Trump. The favor was not returned, Trump has refused to endorse either Paul Ryan or John McCain in their primaries.
CNN is reporting “Republicans are freaking out about Donald Trump, but the candidate himself is insisting his campaign has never been in better shape”.
The campaign is doing really well. It’s never been so well united. It’s the best in terms of being united since we began. We are doing incredibly well,” Trump said.I think we have never been this united,”
According to the Washington Post, party leaders are beginning to panic over Trump’s behavior. Even Trump’s long time supporter Newt Gingrich is worried,
“The current race is which of these two is the more unacceptable, because right now, neither of them is acceptable,” he said. “Trump is helping her to win by proving he is more unacceptable than she is.”
Gingrich and others in the party believe Trump only has a short time, a few weeks, to turn this around.
“Anybody who is horrified by Hillary should hope that Trump will take a deep breath and learn some new skills,” he (Gingrich) said. “He cannot win the presidency operating the way he is now. She can’t be bad enough to elect him if he’s determined to make this many mistakes.”
It’s time for a serious reboot of the Trump campaign, but there’s no indication it will happen which is causing much consternation in the party. According to ABC News,
party officials are so frustrated — and confused — by Donald Trump‘s erratic behavior that they are exploring how to replace him on the ballot if he drops out.
There is no mechanism to replace Trump on the ballot. The only way to get Trump off the ticket is for him to withdraw. There is no indication that he will quit the race even if the party puts pressure on him to do so. If he’s going to withdraw he needs to do it before Labor Day.
If Trump made the decision to withdraw, how would he be replaced? The Republican National Committee would nominate a replacement but like everything in the party, it’s complicated. From the RNC bylaws,
Rule No. 9: Filling Vacancies in Nominations
(a) The Republican National Committee is hereby authorized and empowered to fill any and all vacancies which may occur by reason of death, declination or otherwise of the Republican candidate for president of the United States or the Republican candidate for vice president of the United States, as nominated by the national convention, or the Republican National Committee may reconvene the national convention for the purpose of filling any such vacancies.
(b) In voting under this rule, the Republican National Committee members representing any state shall be entitled to cast the same number of votes as said state was entitled to cast at the national convention.
(c) In the event that the members of the Republican National Committee from any state shall not be in agreement in the casting of votes hereunder, the votes of such state shall be divided equally, including fractional votes, among the members of the Republican National Committee present or voting by proxy.
(d) No candidate shall be chosen to fill any such vacancy except upon receiving a majority of the votes entitled to be cast in the election.
Trump won’t withdraw but he doesn’t have the experience necessary to be a valid candidate for President. No one should think it’s a good idea to make their first foray into politics at the Presidential level. It doesn’t work.
