Somebody must have drilled into Trump's skull and found some part of his brain

[cali]

(cue jokes about finding any brain at all) that was receptive to grasping the simple concept that if he didn't start sticking to a script- including endorsing Ryan and McCain and using a pre-prepared speech at his delirium of hate rallies, he'd be totally screwed. Done before the dog day of August fade into September.

I don't think that someone could possibly have been the spectacularly loathsome toady, Paul Manafort. Perhaps his daughter, Ivana or Ivanka- always get mother and daughter's names confused.

It will be interesting to see how long he can stay on script. I don't think he has the capacity to do so for more than a 24 hour period- and that may be stretching it.

Interesting to watch though.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. When Trump was reading from a script it looked as if he was in a hostage video.

I was waiting for him to blink torture.

Any way, the next big story is he is a stooge for Putin or a useful idiot. It should have legs.

[cali]

3. Lol. I didn't watch last night, but I saw parts of his Maine rally

and that is exactly what it looked like.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. Could you imagine if a presidential candidate on the left was playing footsie with Putin?

[cali]

5. Presumably such a person would be getting the same scathing treatment.

I'm happy with the MSM coverage of Trump.

Of all the stupid things he did, pissing off not only reporters but media owners, may rank among the stupidest.

[oberliner]

11. "Wouldn't it be great if we were friends with Russia?"

Is a line that he says now at his rallies.

Meanwhile he scolds Japan and NATO.

[Protalker]

26. Donald how about a game of solitaire?

[longship]

29. Donald Trump is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life

Hint: Google "Manchurian Candidate quotes"

[Protalker]

30. A lot of Russians around him

I am stunned from as a kid duck and roll from atomic blast to a cadidate wanting to team up with KGB Putin. More bizarre than the movie

[DemonGoddess]

2. they've managed to get him "on script"

for a day or two, here and there. He always blows it. Always.

[HipChick]

28. To be fair, it's hard to ask someone to change who they are at 70yrs old..

I give him about 24hrs, before he acts up again..plus, the news cycle is dominated with Rio...he does not like to compete..

[Vinca]

8. Did you mean "nobody should underestimate the ignorance of the Republicans?"

I agree with you. If they'll vote to re-elect Bush after the Iraq debacle, they'll also vote to elect this empty, imported suit.

[Hortensis]

14. More like a strong gut knowledge that they're right and

that the health and even survival of their nation requires they stand together against destructive forces from the left. For too many, any information that conflicts with that basic wisdom is obviously very wrong and discarded without consideration, often along with the discredited information source.

Very much the way I'd ignore advice to read Ann Coulter's books to understand how Democrats have brought America to ruin. I know what I know too, not about to examine that one further, and my opinion of that person's understanding of public policy is now in the toilet.

[Vinca]

7. I think they just handed him his script and threatened violence if he didn't read it.

[cali]

9. .....

Probably a better explanation than mine.

[oberliner]

10. Completely disagree

He actually sounds awful when he reads from the script.

His whole appeal is based on him not doing that.

And his biggest reactions at rallies is when he goes off the script and does his usual thing.

[cali]

12. What are you disagreeing with? I never said he sounded good. that has nothing to do with my op.

Of course he sounds awful reading from a script.

My point, and you're bright so I'm surprised you missed it, is that it's obvious that the drubbing he was getting from both the MSM and republican functionaries was so overwhelming, that getting him "on script" was clearly a concerted effort.

That's it. Do you disagree with that?

Btw, the people at his rallies are already devotees. The repubs know they aren't enough to elect him and that he was, with his off script ramblings and party defiance, repelling potential voters rather than attracting them.

[oberliner]

15. I don't think sticking to a script is a smart move for his campaign

I do agree that there has been some kind of intervention from someone in his campaign, and he has been convinced to spend part of his rallies reading from a script.

I just don't think it is a smarter strategy. If that's not what you were saying, I apologize for the misunderstanding.

Having watched a few of those rallies online, I think he loses his audience when he reads from the script and he clearly does not know what he is reading.

When he ad libs, however, he showcases whatever it is that appealed to his voters in the first place (i.e. not sounding like a "regular politician" or what have you).

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. Do you like my characterization?

When Trump was reading from a script it looked as if he was in a hostage video.

I was waiting for him to blink torture.

He reminds me of being in school and being asked to read a passage from a book. That's how he sounds.

[oberliner]

18. Agreed

Did you catch where he tried to pronounce "Uzbek" from his script?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20. I must have missed that.

Uzbekistan?

What did he say?

That's a former Soviet republic that is heavily Muslim.

[oberliner]

22. He was reading a list of stories about immigrants who committed crimes in the US

He was trying to read a story about an Uzbek immigrant arrested in Idaho for teaching ISIS sympathizers to build bombs, but he got to the word Uzbek and clearly had never seen the word before and had no idea what it meant.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

23. Can you imagine the debates, if they actually happen?

Hillary will obliterate him. The only danger is she comes off as condescending, but we have learned our lesson after the Gore fiasco.

[oberliner]

24. Are there actually people who are torn between Clinton and Trump?

It's hard to believe that many such voters exist.

I think the Trump people are the Trump people. They are 100 percent behind their candidate and will never be convinced otherwise no matter what he says and does.

My approach to this election would be to focus on getting out the vote. Do everything we can to get our base to turn out in large numbers.

The most important work of this campaign will be the unseen efforts to make sure Hillary voters get out to the polls.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. There is nothing you wrote I can disagree with.

Maybe in a nation as polarized as ours close or reasonably close elections are the norm and Johnson, Nixon, and Reagan type blowouts are a relic of the past.

John McCain was a generic GOP presidential candidate but he still garnered 46% of the vote despite representing the party of the president who got us into two unwinnable wars and the worst recession since the Great Depression.

[Protalker]

27. Where is Herman Cain when you need him?

[glennward]

13. So how did his endorsement of Ryan go? Did Ryan show up? nt

[cali]

16. No. It's clear Ryan loathes him but doesn't have the guts to withdraw his endorsement of Trump-

at least not until he wins his primary- and probably not even then.

[oberliner]

19. He threw in McCain and Ayotte

It was quite funny to watch him read the scripted lines about those three.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

21. His ego will again force him to incite his irrational crowds with irrational rhetoric.

I've got my popcorn handy!