Sahil Kapur:
DOUBLING DOWN
Trump Goes All In With Risky Base Strategy
By bringing on Breitbart News' executive chairman Stephen K. Bannon, Trump signals that he will not back off his combative campaign style.
Jeet Heer/New Republic:
Trump was never going to pivot.
The last big shake-up involved getting rid of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, a loose cannon. The new shake-up represents a return to the good old days of Lewandowski, even if he himself isn’t returning to the campaign.
Probably the second worst job in America is being a Trump surrogate. The worst is being the one to tell him what the latest polls show.
The new campaign slogan is “Mean Kampf”.
Ian Millhauser has a terrific tweet storm here:
Read it also for his commentary on the coalition known as “Democrats”.
This clip explains everything:
Daily Beast:
Alt Right Rejoices at Donald Trump’s Steve Bannon Hire
As Breitbart’s chief, Steve Bannon did a lot to normalize the racist, anti-Semitic world of the alt right. Now they rejoice as he joins the campaign of their king.
Dave Drucker/Washington Examiner:
That's the exact opposite of what Republican insiders were looking for from Trump, and for some, there's simply no more patience or goodwill left in the tank.
"Well, it looks like the Trump campaign has gone full Monty," said a dispirited Republican operative who is publicly supporting Trump and requested anonymity in order to speak candidly.
Sam Stein/HuffPost:
The success of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, accompanied by a civil war within conservative media over his candidacy, was bound to produce a post-election reckoning. Breitbart’s Steve Bannon’s ascension from anti-establishment bomb-thrower to head of the Republican presidential campaign ― essentially the establishment ― has only accelerated the process.
“There are a lot of people who will forever be tarred by their support for Donald Trump, and certainly Breitbart News is going to be part of that campaign,” said Amanda Carpenter, a former top staffer to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and a CNN commentator. “In one way, I hope that these alt right websites all jump on board the Trump campaign so we can have a clear referendum on who has real credibility and who doesn’t.”
Added Hemingway: “There are elements of the entertainment wing of the Republican Party that need to be dealt with. The Sean Hannitys of the world would not be missed if they had a less large platform than they do now.”
Emma Ashford/philly.com:
Donald Trump has finally given us greater insight into his approach to foreign policy. Last week, he not only conducted interviews with the Washington Post and New York Times, but revealed his long-promised list of foreign policy advisers, and addressed the annual AIPAC conference. His remarks led some to note that a restrained or realist worldview was implicit in Trump's statements.
Unfortunately, for those who seek a more restrained foreign policy, there is little reason to celebrate. Even a stopped clock may be right twice a day. And as the man's own remarks show, the Trump Doctrine isn't actually about restraint, it's about unpredictability. And there's every reason to believe that is exactly what the man would deliver as president.
But don’t worry. Trump will do diplomacy the old fashioned way. Arrrr, me hearties.
Bloomberg:
New England’s shrinking Republican delegation in Congress is moving toward the brink of political extinction in November with Donald Trump at the top of the party’s ticket.
Only four Republicans remain in New England’s 33-member congressional delegation, and three are in competitive races this fall. The other, four-term Senator Susan Collins of Maine, doesn’t face re-election this year.
The so-called Rockefeller Republicans who once represented the region became a dying breed in the past few decades as the party moved to the right. Trump, with his controversies and bombastic demeanor, has complicated what was already a difficult task of getting re-elected for the region’s party members.
James Hohmann/WaPo:
-- This is another proof point that Trump is not trying to run the kind of serious campaign that can actually win the presidency. That’s why it will frighten the GOP establishment, scare off some mainstream donors who have been playing footsie with the billionaire and push congressional leaders like Mitch McConnell a little closer to cutting Trump loose – maybe even before Labor Day. (Bannon’s site single-mindedly went after Paul Ryan in the run-up to his primary.)
-- Both of the newly-elevated advisers are conservative populists who will never discourage Trump from following his id. It’s hard for a 70-year-old man to change his ways, especially this one. Donald’s id demands instant gratification more than most people’s, and he’s long struggled to control his impulsiveness...
-- Trump is cozying up to Ailes and Bannon after months of being unable to hire A-level talent. The smartest and most ambitious operatives know that having his name on their resume will probably become a scarlet letter that may doom their future prospects. Politico’s Katie Glueck writes that top Republicans in several critical battleground states say, at best, they've never heard of Trump's state directors or have only limited familiarity with them — and at worst, they know them, and question their ability to do the job.
Ben Terris/WaPo:
What happens when you tie your career to Donald Trump? Ask Sean Spicer in a few months.
The mockery from the chattering classes came quickly.
“What’s it going to be today, the Pony Express or more ‘My Little Pony’?” Bloomberg’s Al Hunt chortled, as he spotted Spicer maneuvering through a cluster of police officers and protesters in downtown Cleveland. “Was ‘My Little Pony’ really the best you could come up with?” asked the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein.
Spicer just grinned. Was it an absurd sound bite? Of course. But he had succeeded in getting the media to talk about “commonly used phrases” and, in general, treating the whole ordeal like a big joke. The Art of the Spiel: If you don’t like the conversation, change it.
“It trended on Twitter,” he said, as he sat down for an interview in the convention center.
Ben Shapiro/Daily Wire:
Wednesday, the Trump campaign shifted top campaign staff: the new CEO of the campaign is, predictably and hilariously, Steven K. Bannon, the current chairman of Breitbart News. I have a bit of experience with Bannon, given that I was the editor-at-large of Breitbart News for four years, and worked closely with Breitbart and Bannon.
Here’s what you need to know about Bannon, as well as new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway….
5. Under Bannon’s Leadership, Breitbart Openly Embraced The White Supremacist Alt-Right. Andrew Breitbart despised racism. Truly despised it. He used to brag regularly about helping to integrate his fraternity at Tulane University. He insisted that racial stories be treated with special care to avoid even the whiff of racism. With Bannon embracing Trump, all that changed. Now Breitbart has become the alt-right go-to website, with Yiannopoulos pushing white ethno-nationalism as a legitimate response to political correctness, and the comment section turning into a cesspool for white supremacist mememakers.
Politico:
Donald Trump offered up a blunt explanation for why he wants retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn at his side as he gets his first classified briefing at FBI headquarters on Wednesday — he doesn't trust intelligence information coming from those currently in charge.
So that bodes well.
Meanwhile in the real world:
Dave Weigel/WaPo:
Working Families Party, a Sanders ally, will endorse Clinton
The Working Families Party will endorse Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, the latest show of support from a progressive group that had worked to defeat the Democratic nominee in the primaries.
"We were pretty enthusiastic for Bernie; he told the truth, and we liked it," said Dan Cantor, the national director of the WFP, referring to Clinton's primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. "We’re now shifting, obviously. There’s a pretty important election coming up. There’s overwhelming support for Clinton. And we're going to continue the political revolution in every district we can."