"Political tactics like this -- there's a delightfully filthy term for it--make for fun for operatives, and they can produce some mayhem, but they seldom win elections, especially at a national level. The birther movement reached a huge range of people; as recently as this month, a plurality of Republicans in an NBC News poll disagreed with the assertion that Obama was born in the United States. The movement may have greased the skids for Trump, too. But it didn't have much luck stopping Obama, who won two terms."
And, on a final note, here's Eugene Robinson's write-up of Trump's latest failed "pivot":
"Donald Trump's 'pivot,' desperately hoped for by sane Republicans, was over before it began. He couldn't pretend to be inclusive and statesmanlike for two days in a row if his life depended on it. [...]
"Poor [campaign manager] Conway had better get used to explaining what her candidate must have meant as opposed to what he actually said. She also should get accustomed to the fact that Trump will frequently make her into a liar. 'He doesn't hurl personal insults,' she said Sunday -- but then Trump took to Twitter. Within hours, he had slung a personal insult at a regular guest on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" (not me). And Monday morning, he lobbed even nastier personal insults at the show's co-hosts. Whatever, Donald.
"Trump's pivot turned out to be a 360-degree pirouette: back into the mud, where he feels most at home.
"I've said it before: Trump is not going to change. No matter how many times he reshuffles his campaign, he is who he is. It's delusional to pretend otherwise."
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