This is a bit of elderly news, though not entirely unusual for Donald Trump. After the Republican National Convention ends, he reportedly plans to fund super PACs to go after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ohio Gov. John Kasich and another “minor figure” the billionaire declined to name (via Bloomberg):
Donald Trump plans to create and fund super PACs aimed at ending the political careers of Ted Cruz and John Kasich after both snubbed the Republican nominee at his party’s convention this week, a person familiar with Trump’s thinking told Bloomberg Politics on Friday.
Donald Trump confirmed his plans during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, saying, “I’ll probably do a super PAC, you know, when they run — against Kasich for $10 million, up to $20 million against Ted Cruz.”
Trump added that there may be “one more person who [he’s] is thinking about” starting an outside group against it, but this anonymous person is “such a small person” that he “hates giving him publicity.”
Former nominating rival Jeb Bush is clearly not the third person Trump is looking at, even after skipping the convention and refusing to endorse the Republican nominee. On Friday, Trump said he “doesn’t care” about attacking Bush because the former Florida governor is already “destroyed.”
Is she referring to “little Marco”? I’m not so sure, considering Trump joined McConnell’s relentless campaign, which ultimately proved successful, in persuading the former presidential candidate to seek reelection to the Florida Senate seat, thus improving the GOP’s chances of keeping the Senate. Could it be Rand Paul? Carly Fiorina? What about Lindsey Graham? I’m sure there are plenty of candidates who have raised Trump’s blood pressure with remarks about him and his business history, among other things. But is it time to start thinking about settling elderly scores?
After all, I think he would take sobering satisfaction in the fact that he easily beat both candidates in the primaries. He’s the candidate. That’s it. Now, can we focus on Clinton, who will have a ruthless machine at the ready to take on him in the general election? As Mark Schnur, McCain’s former campaign communications director, wrote in Wall Street Journalcampaign it’s not like primaries anymore:
But Donald Trump is no longer running in a Republican primary that is won by the candidate who can say the worst things about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Reaching up-to-date voters will require a up-to-date approach, and without that up-to-date approach, Mr. Trump’s arduous run for president becomes even less likely.
There is no doubt that Trump will take outreach. He is already doing it with Bernie supporters on trade. But the times he casually tells the media he is out for blood is probably not the best idea when he does it. Regardless, he is a different candidate, he is a master at getting media attention, and he certainly will not change his strategy of destroying his opponents during debates. After all, it worked wonders for him in the primaries, but we will see if it can boost his poll numbers against Hillary.
