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Scoop: Trump's advisers brace for loss, point fingers
Source: Axios
Three senior Trump advisers who recently talked to campaign manager Bill Stepien walked away believing he thinks they will lose.
The big picture: The Trump campaign is filled with internal blaming and pre-spinning of a potential loss, accelerating a dire mood that's driven by a daily barrage of bleak headlines, campaign and White House officials tell me.
* "A lot of this is the president himself," one adviser said. "You can't heal a patient who doesn't want to take the diagnosis."
Behind the scenes: In weekly pep talks, Stepien tells staff members why they shouldn't pay attention to the perennially horrible public polls — and how they can "win the week" and the campaign.
* But in other private conversations, described by multiple sources, Stepien can seem darkly pessimistic. He likens the campaign to an airplane flying through turbulence, saying: "It's our job to safely land the plane."
* Three sources who have heard Stepien use variations of the airplane analogy say they sensed he was deeply, perhaps irretrievably pessimistic about the state of the race.
* "It's not a great feeling when you get the sense the campaign manager doesn't deep down think we're going to win," one campaign source said.
...snip...
Between the lines: Stepien's critics say he is in CYA mode, refusing to make tough decisions that might incur Trump's wrath while setting up excuses for what polls suggest could be a shellacking by Joe Biden.
* But Stepien's defenders tell me the campaign sees several remaining paths to victory, and note that it's hardly his fault when the president insists on actions like taking a joyride with the Secret Service while infected by COVID-19.
* They added that it's also hardly Stepien's fault that Trump continues to attack his public health officials and present views that are out of step with public opinion — such as his denigration of the basic safety act of wearing a mask.
* He's also dealing with a money shortage, driven by heavy early spending by his predecessor, Brad Parscale, who was demoted this summer.
The big picture: The Trump campaign is filled with internal blaming and pre-spinning of a potential loss, accelerating a dire mood that's driven by a daily barrage of bleak headlines, campaign and White House officials tell me.
* "A lot of this is the president himself," one adviser said. "You can't heal a patient who doesn't want to take the diagnosis."
Behind the scenes: In weekly pep talks, Stepien tells staff members why they shouldn't pay attention to the perennially horrible public polls — and how they can "win the week" and the campaign.
* But in other private conversations, described by multiple sources, Stepien can seem darkly pessimistic. He likens the campaign to an airplane flying through turbulence, saying: "It's our job to safely land the plane."
* Three sources who have heard Stepien use variations of the airplane analogy say they sensed he was deeply, perhaps irretrievably pessimistic about the state of the race.
* "It's not a great feeling when you get the sense the campaign manager doesn't deep down think we're going to win," one campaign source said.
...snip...
Between the lines: Stepien's critics say he is in CYA mode, refusing to make tough decisions that might incur Trump's wrath while setting up excuses for what polls suggest could be a shellacking by Joe Biden.
* But Stepien's defenders tell me the campaign sees several remaining paths to victory, and note that it's hardly his fault when the president insists on actions like taking a joyride with the Secret Service while infected by COVID-19.
* They added that it's also hardly Stepien's fault that Trump continues to attack his public health officials and present views that are out of step with public opinion — such as his denigration of the basic safety act of wearing a mask.
* He's also dealing with a money shortage, driven by heavy early spending by his predecessor, Brad Parscale, who was demoted this summer.
Read more: https://www.axios.com/trump-advisers-brace-for-loss-02d6b688-4d15-46f8-a28c-efdf2a5640c3.html
As long as the last paycheck clears?
24 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
the idea that the "Death Star" campaign is now "an airplane flying through turbulence".
Okay. [/savor] I'm done now.
Of course you've got a tough job if you have to try and advise a man famous for disregarding advice and following his own gut. But zero sympathy for anybody who comes on board this late in the game without realizing what they've tied themselves to.
Christ, look who they have to work with! They could probably get any other human being elected in a nano-second. They have to get Donald Fucking Trump re-elected, and that's an impossibility! 
the orange assholes flight to no where is about to crash. it will not be a graceful landing. it will be a fucking mess.
