GOP Delegates See Clearer Path For Trump

CLEVELAND— For all of the hand-wringing Republican strategists have engaged in this week over Donald Trump’s campaign efforts, delegates on the convention floor have struck a slightly more optimistic note on the state of the race.    

While many consultants believe the GOP nominee requires a wholesale change in approach if he wants to defeat Hillary Clinton this fall, plenty of convention delegates aren’t anxious to see a change in the tone or tenor of Trump’s campaign. In fact, many swing-state delegates told C&E Trump should mainly stay the course to flip the battlegrounds necessary to become the next president.

Ryan Thomas, a Ted Cruz delegate from Fairfax, Va., thinks Trump could flip the Commonwealth by targeting his message to technology workers in the D.C. suburbs. “He needs to highlight the importance of restoring the individual’s personal liberty, and articulate how he’s going to get people back to work,” Thomas said.  

Michigan delegate Chuck Yob, a longtime party official and a John Kasich delegate, believes Trump can put that state in play by concentrating his time on the ground in counties like Oakland, Macomb, Ottawa and Kent. Though Yob is one who would like to see more of a paid media effort from the party’s nominee.  

“He needs to do advertising and he needs to be present,” said Yob. “George H. W. Bush came into the state in 1988 and he won.”

In many cases, delegates urged Trump not to bend to pressure from the establishment and conform to the mold of a typical politician, but just “be himself.” That has many professionals rubbing their foreheads in angst given that Hillary Clinton and her allied PACs have reserved $111 million of TV airtime in key states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Iowa through Nov. 7 versus just $654,455 for Team Trump, according to a recent tally by Ad Age. 

Kay Ragan Durden, a delegate and state committeewoman from Mayo, Fla., was pleased that Trump had started staffing up in Florida, but she wants to see more, including a TV ad campaign.  

“He’s got to do it all,” including advertise, she said. “This is a whole new ball game.”

Matt Schultz, Iowa’s former secretary of state, is one who thinks Trump doesn’t need to advertise in the Hawkeye State.  

“He just has to keep doing what he’s doing and be who he is,” Schultz said, noting that advertising is unlikely to help him there. “We see so many ads in Iowa,” he said, “it’s kind of like junk mail.” 

Pennsylvania delegate James Klein, who came to Cleveland representing the 5th congressional district, actually thinks Clinton’s advertising in his home state is backfiring.

“I think all the advertising that needs to get done is being done by Hillary,” he said.