Testing the limits of his appeal
by digby
Trump's doing it his way:
Behind the scenes, the RNC is struggling to get Trump's team to staff up. Communication hires that were supposed to happen last week never materialized. Instead of matching the RNC's ground game and firing power, Trump is focused on the same strategy he had during the primary -- dominate the news cycle and don't worry about details.
Donald Trump defiant following Obama's criticism after Orlando shooting 3:04
Veteran campaign operatives have expressed dismay over the Trump campaign's unwillingness to fill key roles and infighting between senior staffers.
"He fundamentally doesn't believe he needs to campaign as usual," one source said.
Maybe it will work. He's just that special. And if it doesn't work out, he's got his new media empire to fall back on:
Trump is indeed considering creating his own media business, built on the audience that has supported him thus far in his bid to become the next president of the United States. According to several people briefed on the discussions, the presumptive Republican nominee is examining the opportunity presented by the “audience” currently supporting him. He has also discussed the possibility of launching a “mini-media conglomerate” outside of his existing TV-production business, Trump Productions LLC. He has, according to one of these people, enlisted the consultation of his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who owns the The New York Observer. Trump’s rationale, according to this person, is that, “win or lose, we are onto something here. We’ve triggered a base of the population that hasn’t had a voice in a long time.” For his part, Kushner was heard at a New York dinner party saying that “the people here don’t understand what I’m seeing. You go to these arenas and people go crazy for him.” (Both Kushner and Ivanka Trump did not respond to a request for comment.)
“EVEN OLD FOX NEWS DIDN’T HAVE THE RIGHT READ ON WHAT THE BASE IS. AND WE DO.”
Trump, this person close to the matter suggests, has become irked by his ability to create revenue for other media organizations without being able to take a cut himself. Such a situation “brings him to the conclusion that he has the business acumen and the ratings for his own network.” Trump has “gotten the bug,” according to this person. “So now he wants to figure out if he can monetize it.”
Of course he does. He's not making any money on this otherwise, is he? And it's apparent that he needs it.
You have to love this though:
The Trump camp’s interest in cable may, on some level, be the most telling indicator of the businessman’s financial aptitude. These days, after all, the most successful media companies are figuring out their strategies in a post-cable, over-the-top landscape. In fact, one rival entertainment executive pointed out to me that launching a cable channel is “nuts” because of the limited spectrum available, the declining advertising rates, and the immense start-up costs and resources required. “It’s a fool’s errand,” this person said. “But then again, we are talking about Donald Trump.”
