Thread: Does Trump really want to win?

Does Trump really want to win?
Edward Rollins

By Edward Rollins Published March 30, 2016

Can Donald Trump win the Republican nomination? Probably, but not certainly! Can Trump win in November against Hillary? Possibly, but not likely. Can Trump win without closing the gender gap? Absolutely not.

Trump and his advisers need to learn to count beyond delegates.

One of Donald Trump’s favorite putdowns against his opponents is: "He's a loser!" If he continues on his present path and rhetoric, even if he squeaks by and ekes out the Republican nomination, he will be defeated in the general election by a landslide and that phrase will be tattooed across his forehead for life.

Even his creative hair styling won’t be able to cover it up. LOSER will be there in bold print. It will be stamped right there on his forehead for the world to see. And the person who put it there will be Hillary Clinton along with a major assist from his own party.

Trump is a great counter puncher but likes to kick and insult his opponents after he's knocked them down. You don't gain points or supporters by being an ungracious winner.

Trump can't continue to divide the Republican Party, which is already a minority party, by attacking his fellow primary opponents even after they've dropped out.
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If Trump wants to be president, and I assume he does, he needs to make a major adjustment to his strategy or as I suspect, develop a strategy.

Successful politics is a game of addition. You must first unify your party and build on it.

Trump is literally a former builder. He must understand the importance of building a strong foundation.

Right now, his foundation is full of cracks and the Republican Party is as divided as I have seen in the 50 years I've been around the game.

Trump is presently getting 37 percent of Republican voters. His biggest deficiency is among Republican women where the latest Wall Street Journal poll shows that 47 percent of Republican women say they will not vote for Trump if he is the nominee.

That is a sure formula for a landslide defeat, even to a vulnerable Hillary Clinton.

Two things must be the focus for Trump and must be his team's agenda every day. First, bring Republicans home. And, second, add women voters!

Trump can't win a general election by repeatedly attacking and insulting the majority of voters (women). The gender gap is real and growing. Women decided the election in 2012. The margin of victory was cast by women voters and the gap between President Obama and Mitt Romney among woman voters was 12 percent. Women voters will be the deciding vote again in 2016 and that gap has the potential to grow even larger.

In his 2012 loss, Romney got 93 percent of the Republican vote and McCain, in 2008 got 90 percent.

George W. Bush in his two wins got 93 percent in 2004 and 91 percent in 2000.

Looking at the numbers game, Trump must get over 90 percent – minimum -- of Republicans to support his nomination to be a viable candidate in a general election.

In order to do that he has to do a lot of repair work among the base and with the other candidates and their supporters.

Trump starts this election with extremely high negatives, 65 percent in the latest Fox News poll, and even higher in other polls (the highest of any presidential candidate running in the history of polling!)

Trump has insulted and trashed all his fellow candidates in the race, along with the recent nominees of the party: Dole, McCain, Romney. Trump also called former President George W. Bush a liar.

Of course the only Republican nominee he supported for president was Romney in 2012.

In previous elections he was a Democrat/independent/businessman and he cast his vote for their opponents.

Fast forward to 2016: Trump has made up for his Romney endorsement by calling him the biggest loser of all.

Even if Trump manages to repair his relations with his own party he must also end his perceived war on women. The attacks on Mrs. Cruz (whether he started it or not he certainly threw gas on the flames) have to stop.

His ongoing feud with Michelle Fields, Megyn Kelly and other female journalists also has to stop.

When 68 percent of voters don’t think you have the right temperament to be president (including 48 percent of Republicans, 64 percent of independents,64 percent of white voters, and 76 percent of women) it gets awfully hard to get the 65 million plus votes you will need to get elected.

Mr. Trump is a hell of a salesman. He's already convinced a lot of voters in the primaries he can do the job. But to get across the finish line as the winner -- not the loser -- is going to take a coordinated, and disciplined plan of action.

First and foremost, Mr. Trump needs some substantive policy advisers in both foreign and economic areas. Sound bites alone won't work in the fall campaign.

The world is a mess and good intentions and a "can do attitude" is not enough.

Trump needs to map out how he is going to win both the necessary constituencies and the swing states that can get him to 270 electoral votes or more.

If he doesn’t begin to pivot now, he's going to lose and so will the party he has now joined and wants to lead.

But the first steps are to quit insulting women, his fellow Republicans and minorities (and leave Mrs. Cruz and the female reporters alone). Mr. Trump, if you don't, I guarantee you, the last thing voters will say to you is: "You're fired!"

Edward J. Rollins is a Fox News contributor. He is a former assistant to President Reagan and he managed his reelection campaign. He is a senior presidential fellow at Hofstra University and a member of the Political Consultants Hall of Fame. He is Senior Advisor for Teneo Strategy.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/...nt-to-win.html

Donald Trump wants to win. He wants to win the nomination. He wants to win the General Election. He wants to win because he wants to fix our country.

For any Republican to doubt Donald Trump's desire to win and move forward to fix our country, is just plain silly. He's fighting to win like no candidate in Republican history has had to fight to win an election while still doing the right things for our country. He's fighting Mexico, the Pope, the Drug Cartels, and the Republican Establishment on immigration. He's fighting the Republican Establishment and many countries on trade. He's fighting the Media who wants Hillary. He's fighting Bernie and Hillary. He's fighting Cruz and Kasich and Romney and Graham and a zillion others. He's fighting Governors endorsing his opponents, he's fighting the Speaker of the House who is "neutral" except for being against Trump, he's fighting the RNC, State Conventions, and George Soros and Bernie Sanders Army of Trump Haters.

Tell me who he isn't fighting? Donald Trump is fighting the whole world to try to save the United States and being persecuted for it.

The only people who aren't fighting Donald Trump are his army of Trump Supporters.

I got two calls today from a family member and life-time friend who are both Bernie Supporters. They called within an hour or so of each other to talk about Trump. They were dismayed by the attacks on Trump this past week, impressed with his ability to stand it off, told me not to give up on him because of the abortion statements because neither one believe he wants government involved in policing abortion. Both are males, one is 19 and one is 62. One lives in the Midwest and one outside DC. They wanted me to know if Bernie loses the primary, they're both all in for Trump. They've already voted for Bernie in this primaries or with what they've seen and heard Trump say and do in the past week, they would have voted for Trump The 62 year old is from the Midwest, a college graduate and a lifetime Independent who votes for the man which means he almost always votes Democrat. The 9 year old who will turn 20 shortly is from the DC area is a college student, a Registered Republican and this will be his first Presidential Election.

Trump's problems aren't what Trump is saying or doing, it's what the Media and Establishment are doing.

It's so wonderful to be rid of the "Pledge" crap. It was a poorly conceived idea to begin with, a chain on freedom, a plastic bag tied over the head of liberty. Thanks to Trump, once the media stops talking about something no real American gives a hoot about, the Pledge is over. And rightly so.

There are several reasons our country is divided but none of them have anything to do with Donald Trump. Donald Trump has united this nation behind two issues: ending illegal immigration and fixing our trade deals.

The division stems from those who oppose his agenda on immigration and trade, not what he said in the privacy of his own plane about Carly Fiorina's persona or what he said about Megyn being so angry she was bleeding from her nose or whatever or calling O'Donnell a fat pig 20 years ago for making fun of his hair as a publicity stunt for the View.

Americans, all Americans, need to think hard about the state of our country before Donald Trump announced he was running for the Presidency. That's right, think back, and remember what everyone was talking about, what we were fighting over, what we believed our prospects to be, and what solutions our politicians were offering.

Then jump forward to June 16, 2015 and fast forward to now and compare what everyone is talking about, fighting over, believe our prospects to be and what solutions our politicians are offering.

Yep ... it's a whole new world. Stopping illegal immigration is possible, a wall will be built, our trade deals can be fixed, our jobs will be coming home, we will fix our Veteran Affairs, Military and Infrastructure.

Trump has reset the entire agenda of the United States from immigration to trade, foreign policy to war, balanced budgets to debt reduction, federally regulated private health care system to locally controlled education.

Sounds like a lot and it is. The tasks are monumental. There's only person in this race from both sides of the aisles who can do it, the only person with the combined experience, skills and will to do it, the only person who dared to even suggest it let alone declare it as his agenda to do for our country, the only person with the courage to take the heat and criticism for doing so, the only person funding his own campaign refusing PACS and big donors, the only person who sacrificed important business contracts because of his agenda on immigration, all to improve the peace, harmony, security and well-being of American citizens, and that person is Donald J Trump.

You can blame the Iowans, who decided to try to beat the front-runner with lies and fraud, you can blame the Utahans who fell for the ANYONE BUT TRUMP started by loser globalist Romney, you can blame the Establishment marooned like beached whales on the island of their DONORS for the STOP TRUMP, and you may soon be able to blame Wisconsinites who got suckered by the radio guy's NEVER TRUMP.

But you can never blame Trump with a straight-face and an honest heart. This man has already done more for our country than all these wannabes combined and has single-handedly reset our agenda and political system in less than a year with his own money than any politician or group of politicians in US History.

So for anyone who doesn't like his "tone", you're just tone-deaf and missing the music.

Open Borders and Free Trade Treason are dead in the United States, never to rise again. They're over. And there is one man to thank for that, whether he wins or loses the