Donald Trump may, as they say in the South, “Clean up real good.” If Trump reins in his wilder tendencies as a tactical move for the sake of reaching more voters, Chris Cillizza is probably right. From Cillizza on a guest post at theburningplatform.com:
Gone was “Lyin’ Ted.” In its place was “Senator Cruz.” Gone was the long-winded speech that went nowhere. In its place was a succinct recitation of states and delegates won. Gone was the two-day vacation as a reward for winning. In its place was an early morning trip to Indiana followed by another planned stop in Maryland.
Donald Trump 2.0 made his official debut Tuesday night following his sweeping victory in New York, a win that looks to net him 90 delegates and reestablishes him as the man to beat in the Republican presidential race.
After winning the New York GOP presidential primary April 19, Republican front-runner Donald Trump told a crowd at Trump Tower in Manhattan that he planned to celebrate for a night, then “go back to work” the next day. (Associated Press)
That version of Trump was markedly more disciplined, gentler and more appealing than the version of Trump we’ve seen for much of the last year. And, that fact should scare the hell out of establishment Republicans who believed that their efforts to keep Trump from the 1,237 delegates he needs to formally capture the GOP nomination was beginning to catch on.
Why? Because it’s clear, at least for now, that Trump is listening to his new political advisers — chief among them convention manager Paul Manafort and national field director Rick Wiley. Trump’s change in tone on Tuesday night was absolutely unmistakeable to anyone who has paid even passing attention to his campaign to date. The man who had built his frontrunning campaign on a willingness to always and without fail take the race to its lowest common denominator — was suddenly full of respect for the men he beat and full of facts about the state of the race.
“We have won millions of more votes than Senator Cruz, millions and millions of more votes than Governor Kasich,” Trump said. “We’ve won, and now especially after tonight, close to 300 delegates more than Senator Cruz.”
The change in tone is absolutely necessary if Trump wants to not only find a way to 1,237 delegates but also unite the party behind him in any meaningful way heading into the general election campaign this fall. The truth is that Trump has to play an outsider and an insider game from here on out. The outsider game is to keep winning primaries by convincing margins like he did in New York. The insider game is to show unbound delegates as well as party leaders and influencers that he can be magnanimous, that he can be a uniting force within the party.
To continue reading: The new Donald Trump should scare the hell out of the GOP establishment
He’s no fool. Which will certainly be a nice change.