Stuart Stevens tweeted this about the Trump campaign. It’s so, so true:
Watching the Harris campaign vs. Trump, it’s striking how much of a higher level the Harris campaign is operating. It’s NFL vs. Division 2 college, at best.
Why? Part of it, of course, comes from Trump, who has made a mess of every organization he has ever controlled. But there’s another factor: Democrats have developed a much deeper bench of skilled political operatives.
In 1999, the Bush campaign assembled the best Republican political talent in Austin. In the 2000 campaign, the Bush campaign performed at a significantly higher level than the Gore campaign, which was sort of a mess, moving HQ from DC to Nashville, etc. Cut to 2016.
Most top level operatives did not want anything to do with the Trump campaign. It assembled a collection of second and third-stringers, weirdos, all the sort of people who had been trying to work at the presidential level, but nobody would let them in. Yes, Trump won, but it’s hard to say that his campaign performed at a higher level. Run that race 100 times, Clinton won 90, and it wasn’t like the Clinton campaign put together an awe-inspiring operation.
To recap, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, campaign chairman, deputy campaign manager, national security advisor, foreign policy advisor, long-time political consultant, and personal attorney all went to prison.
That’s to be expected since the Trump campaign is organized like a large criminal enterprise. That has continued to this day. Yes, Chris LaCivita and Suzy Wiles are competent professionals, but look around, and there is still the same collection of second-stringers and freaks involved in the campaign.
Does that matter? Of course. What happened at MSG on Sunday highlighted what a shambolic, incompetent operation Trump has assembled. This should not be a surprise. Since 2016, Trump has run the Republican party. His management style is to hire people who could never have a like role based on merit so that they are loyal to him. (Witness the embarrassing spectacle of Alina Habba dancing out to the podium at Trump rallies.)
It’s how you run a mob, not a meritocracy. How long will it be until Republicans can catch up, assuming they can? I have no idea and honestly, I could care less.
That tracks with how he ran the government too.