There’s been a lot of sturm and drang lately from the chattering classes and Republican donors over Trump’s seemingly undisciplined, incoherent, and “self destructive” behavior since Harris secured the nomination, and I think something is getting lost in the mix:

It’s not “undisciplined,” – it’s a deliberate strategy.

It may not be Chris LaCivtia and Susie Wiles’ strategy, but it is Trump’s. Remember that the entire Trump campaign was set up to run against the age and unpopularity of Joe Biden, and the Harris nomination has turned that strategy completely on its head. Her candidacy is exciting voters, spurring registrations, and bringing Blacks, Hispanics and young voters back into the Democrat fold, leaving Trump nowhere to turn. It’s very similar to 2008, when the entire GOP establishment geared up to fight Hillary, only to watch Obama get the nomination. 

Whoops!

So Trump has recalibrated. If he can no longer broaden his appeal to minorities and the young, he might as well work to bring out his traditional MAGA extremist base by amping up the White grievance, especially with White men and the Anti-Vax/Q-Anon crowd. And it just may work. During an episode of The Focus Group last month, Marc Caputo pointed out that in 2020 a mere 45,000 votes spread across a few swing states would have handed Trump an electoral college victory. Trump lost to Biden specifically because he underperformed by a few points with White men compared to 2016. Get those White men back, and he has a good shot at winning.

Virtually all of Trump’s recent decisions can be viewed through that prism. It’s what the JD Vance pick was all about. Vance appeals almost exclusively to angry, misogynistic White men and young Incels on 8-Chan. The attack on Kamala’s race at the NABJ? More White grievance! And who better to execute the new White grievance strategy than the king of angry white men himself- Corey Lewandowski. Welcome back!

This is also why the campaign has gone absolutely mental over Tim Walz. Harris had to go and pick the one guy who could appeal more to those White men Trump is betting the farm on.  Walz is everything Trump pretends to be: A man’s man who served in the Guard, coaches football, tends to his lawn, and will help you fix your truck on a Saturday morning.  He’s basically a Mid-Western Hank Hill, and the Trump campaign is in full panic mode over it. Don’t think it’s lost on the Harris campaign either. There’s a reason Walz goes everywhere with her (including CNN tonight).

The other group Trump needs to bring back into the fold is the whack-a-doo wing: Namely the hardcore anti-vaxxers, fringe conspiracy theorists, Q-Anon loons, and mental patients I’ll call the “Tin Foilers.” As I said on this board ad nauseum (to much consternation) RFK Jr’s brand of bat-shit conspiracism was always more of a danger to Trump than Biden, and recent polls bore that out. By teaming up with RFK Jr, including Q-Anon slogans in his Tweets, and adding Tin Foilers like Tulsi Gabbard to his transition team, Trump can woo that audience back and pick up the endorsement of celebrity Tin Foilers like Roseanne, Joe Rogan, Dr. Phil, Russell Brand to boot. 

In short, he’s shoring up the base. Putting the band back together. Playing the hits. Because it’s all about that base, ‘bout that base, no middle. And in an election year that’s all about turnout, his strategy just may work. Criticize Trump all you want, but there is a method to his madness.