The Trump Trap

It is classic. The post-debate fallout is exactly as I predicted. The MSM clamoring that Hillary won big. The problem with that is there is only one poll that indicates that and it comes from one of her biggest cheerleaders, CNN. A dozen other polls were shocking in that they found Donald Trump to be the winner. The online survey by Time Magazine with nearly 2 million votes last time I looked had Trump running away 55-45.

Here is the bottom line; Trump just laid the perfect trap. He didn’t hit Hillary with emails or Benghazi or the Clinton Foundation scandals. He let all of that slip through the cracks or so it seemed. Did it occur to you that maybe it is part of his overall strategy and the center of The Art of the Deal?

If Trump had come out and buried Clinton in a blizzard of truth in round one, much of that would have worn off by Election Day nearly 6 weeks from now. If he brings up the heat in debate number 2 and then delivers the hard goods in debate number 3 it is much more likely to stick in my estimation. This guy is trying to seal the biggest deal of all time and he knows these things need some finesse.

Only fools rush in. Hillary came out like gangbusters. She was on the offensive much of the night and yet most pundits aren’t sure it will move the needle for her at all and some think the momentum toward Trump will continue. I don’t think it matters all too much. Even if the polls shift a little bit over the next few days in either direction, it won’t be the final factor in the election.

As a result heading into debate number two the expectations for Hillary will be even higher. The pressure to keep up the attacks on Trump will be more intense and the spotlight on her potentially fragile health even more glaring. This means she has made the bar higher and tougher to maintain for herself. Trump has kept the bar modest and we within reach for a breakout performance. I don’t expect to see that until get together number 3.

Trump will however ratchet up the pressure in Round 2 but he will still leave some stuff on the table for the knockout punch in the final round. He will hold back a really good card or two.

I’m telling you this is the game plan and besides he came out of round 1 in pretty good shape as it is. So now he will start spending $140 million dollars in ads across the nation and the swing states. He was already trending into the lead in many swing states and running a statistical dead heat nationally so the ad buy will likely help him build on the support he has already generated. I mean keep in mind Hillary and her campaign has already spent tens of millions of dollars and cannot shake the political first timer with low approval ratings. Wait until he spends a few million.

In the meantime I am patiently waiting for Julian Assange to drop another steaming pile into the middle of Hillary’s campaign plate. Based on recent reports that could include links to President Obama and his secret pen name sending correspondence to Hillary’s home brew server. That of course would set up a nice discussion leading into debate number three. I am pretty sure with that information Donald Trump will be able to make the closing argument that business as usual just won’t work anymore for Americans all across this great land.

Today it would be Trump 275 Electoral Votes and Clinton 263- but come tomorrow one can only guess where it will lead.