Once again we have to ask: Did Donald Trump ever intend to run a real campaign?
Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has now spent $52 million on ads, and pro-Clinton outside groups have chipped in an additional $39 million, according to ad-spending data from Advertising Analytics.
By comparison, the Trump campaign itself has spent $0, with pro-Trump outside groups adding $8 million over the airwaves.
Zero. Zero as in no dollars at all. Zip. Nada. The Trump campaign is being outspent even by the $15,000 devoted to the task by third-party candidate Gary Johnson.
Now, perhaps the Trump campaign is merely being smart here. Perhaps they recognize that the average Trump voter isn't swayed by such nuanced things as television ads, and Trump is saving the money for an elaborate door-to-door effort in which campaign volunteers will go to voters' homes and jingle keys in front of them. Perhaps Trump is refusing to spend money on advertisements because he doesn't personally own a media outlet and wants to reserve those campaign funds for things like Trump brand bottled water and Trump-branded ties.
Perhaps he doesn't intend to spend any of those campaign donations on ads—or anything else. Perhaps someone has let him in on the grandest grift of all time: After your supporters willingly give you their money, you don't have to give it back. Even after the "campaign" is over, you can just convert it to gold coins and keep it in a box as your rolling-around money. Everybody needs a little rolling-around money.
Hmm. No, let’s go with the key-jingling theory. They’re saving up for the brightly colored ones.