Donald Trump Is Buying a New Hampshire Campaign Wholesale (Huckabee, votes, interview)

[Unsettomati]

Whatever Trump's motivation - and I maintain that he's simply amusing himself and enjoying the attention - there are growing indications that he's in it for the long haul. First, there's the long list of business interests who have severed ties with Trump, most of which he probably saw coming. If Trump is willing to take those financial hits - and we know how much The Donald loves money - then it probably means he's planning on riding this wave for all its worth, because if there's one thing he loves even more than the dollar it's attention.

And here's a very specific sign that he's planning on creating one headache after another for Republicans for the next seven months at least, because the New Hampshire Primary is seven months from tomorrow, and... well, this:

Maybe money can't buy happiness, but it sure can buy the framework of a presidential campaign. Just ask Donald Trump. The real-estate developer-turned reality TV star has never formally run for political office before, yet has put together a New Hampshire operation using a pretty simple plan: purchasing one off the shelf, in this case by hiring top staff away from Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity.

Exactly how much Trump is paying for his campaign won't be known for sure until next week, when his first expenditure reports are due at the Federal Election Commission. But the number of people already on the payroll, as well as the trappings of the events, suggest a self-funded campaign with money to burn.

Behind the glitz, however, is the infrastructure of a presidential campaign: The seven full-time staff Trump's campaign says it has hired in New Hampshire—and nine in Iowa—gives Trump possibly the biggest operation in the Republican field, second only to Democratic front-runner Clinton.

Donald Trump Is Buying a New Hampshire Campaign Wholesale - NationalJournal.com

Oh, where to begin?

1) Is it just me, or is it freakin' hilarious that Trump is poaching Koch talent, using Chuck and Dave as his triple-A farm system?

2) Do we have another Perot in the making, a billionaire who is willing to throw hundreds of millions of his own fortune into a campaign?

3) I've said it before - Trump's pretend bid for the Presidency is simply The Apprentice on steroids, the ultimate reality show for Trump. And it looks like he plans to milk every last bit of attention he can from this experience.

4) When his campaign fails to produce actual results (it will, because most of the GOP base that actually trundles out to the ballot booth in primaries and caucuses wants nothing to do with Trump), will he fire up an independent bid, a la Perot?

As pathetic as it is for someone to be using this platform without any real electoral intent - say what you will about candidates, virtually all of them think they're putting forth good ideas that would benefit the country - I can't help but be amused by the havoc this disaster of their own making is going to wreak upon the GOP.

[drishmael]

Originally Posted by Unsettomati

"I can't help but be amused by the havoc this disaster of their own making is going to wreak upon the GOP."

Yeah, Trump is either so lacking in the capacity for introspection that he actually thinks he can win, or his nascent campaign is a deliberate effort to boost his profile at the expense of the Republican Party. Whichever is genuinely the motivation (and I lean more toward the latter), it's apparent Trump has neither the inclination nor the incentive to moderate his public pronouncements or persona. And Fox News et al. have a compelling monetary rationale to promote and prolong his candidacy in order to keep him in the news and on the debate stage. In the latter medium, Trump's sure to monopolize the limelight, taint the other candidates by association, and imbue the whole process with a carnival atmosphere, but the radicalism and avarice of contemporary conservatism makes the slow-motion train wreck impossible to forestall.

[LauraC]

He's leading in North Carolina and is second in Iowa. Is he buying them, too?

[Unsettomati]

Originally Posted by drishmael

Yeah, Trump is either so lacking in the capacity for introspection that he actually thinks he can win, or his nascent campaign is a deliberate effort to boost his profile at the expense of the Republican Party.

I don't for a minute think Trump has any illusions about winning. He's simply enjoying himself immensely. And I don't think he's intentionally hurting the GOP - I just don't think he cares one iota if he does. So it's not an intent, just a side-effect that doesn't remotely concern him.

Originally Posted by LauraC

He's leading in North Carolina and is second in Iowa. Is he buying them, too?

You're confused. His numbers in all states - New Hampshire included - are not based on campaign infrastructure at this point. Most poll numbers right now, national and state, are based on general campaigning, national media appearances, and so forth. The intensive retail politicking and groundwork is yet to come.

You're also confused in your paranoid notion that I've accused him of 'buying leads'. What I have pointed out is that Trump is apparently all in, and that strongly implies that he'll be running amok through the Republican house through the early primaries and caucuses, seven months distant. And I'm amused that he's making off with Koch talent and just throwing gobs of cash at what other candidates have to spend months slowly putting together. What is Trump if not the perfect metaphor for the Republican Party in the 21st century?


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Another sign that Trump is all-in - he seems perfectly happy to reveal actual financial details. I've been of the opinion that he'd milk the campaign for all the fun it was worth until he had to reveal his net worth, at which point he'd probably fold rather than reveal that his actual worth is less than what he's been saying it is. But, no. It looks as though he's forging ahead.

The large field of Republican presidential hopefuls jockeying to make the cut for the first 2016 debate will have to file a public disclosure of their personal finances on time to participate.

That means every candidate who declared before July 6 — a group of 14 contenders including former Florida governor Jeb Bush and real estate magnate Donald Trump — will have to reveal information about their assets and debts to get into the Aug. 6 event in Cleveland.

Trump told The Washington Post in an interview Thursday that he will file his financial disclosure ahead of schedule, perhaps next week. Bush has not yet said whether he will do so.

GOP candidates must turn in financial disclosure on time to get into first debate - The Washington Post

And this is quite interesting.

Amid growing concern among Republican Party leaders about his presidential candidacy, Donald Trump vowed Thursday to wage a hard-charging and lengthy campaign, including filing his financial disclosures with the Federal Election Commission as early as next week.

Excellent, excellent!

In a wide-ranging, 30-minute interview with The Washington Post, the billionaire real estate mogul and reality television star said he has serious concerns about other Republican candidates and refused to commit to supporting the eventual nominee in the general election.

No! I'm shocked! Shocked, I say!

“So many people want me to run as an independent — so many people,” Trump said. “I have been asked by — you have no idea, everybody wants me to do it. I think the best chance of defeating the Democrats and to make America great again is to win as a Republican because I don’t want to be splitting up votes.” Pressed about whether he would back the Republican ticket if he fails to win the nomination himself, Trump left the door open for a third-party bid of his own. “I would have to see who the nominee is,” he said.

Clearly, Donald Trump doesn't want the fun to end sometime in March or April when it's clear who will be the Republican nominee (and it won't be Trump). You don't think he wants to be up there in those three Presidential debates in the fall of 2016, next to Bush and Clinton? You don't think he wants to be in the history books as a candidate who took 10% or so of the general election vote? And then to hold the position where he's a sought-after political commentator by the infotainment (pretend news) channels that the pablum-gobbling masses love?

Trump vows long campaign, won't commit to backing GOP nominee

As I've said before, part of me winces at what an embarrassment is the spectacle of Trump using an election as nothing but his own chance to preen. But another part of me is enjoying watching him take the GOP for a ride.

I hear train wrecks are stopping to watch the Republican nomination contest...

[WestCobb]

Unset, the more I think about this the more I think Trump is in it to win it. He has increased a fortune by sensing opportunity. I think he has assessed the GOP and realized it's a failing organization that can be had for a bargain price. He's the vulture capitalist swooping in on wounded prey the rest of us don't yet realize will die. I think he's going to make a real go of this and expose the Republicans for what it's become.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by Unsettomati

You're confused. His numbers in all states - New Hampshire included - are not based on campaign infrastructure at this point. Most poll numbers right now, national and state, are based on general campaigning, national media appearances, and so forth. The intensive retail politicking and groundwork is yet to come.

And...

He has name recognition He doesn't have to spend his money this early buying name recognition.

"Media coverage of Donald Trump's controversial immigration remarks have lifted the GOP presidential candidate to the top of the Republican field, according to a new 7-9-2015 Economist/YouGov poll."

(Personally, I don't like how this company polls and stopped participating in their polls because of it.)

When they asked about favorability for each of the candidates, the "Don't Knows" for each candidate went like this:

Bush 16%
Trump 9%
Carson 40%
Graham 42%
Cruz 25%
Walker 39%
Rubio 31%
Pataki 52%
Paul 27%
Perry 29%
Jindal 40%
Fiorina 43%
Christie 18%
Kasich 56%
Huckabee 27%
Santorum 31%

As you can see from the "Don't knows" for everyone, the least were for Trump. I will guess he will spend his money more on the ground after the first debate. Like Hillary Clinton (6%), he's not lacking in name recognition right now. So, I guess we agree. I just think he doesn't have to start spending his money as early as the other guys.