Capital Brief: Trump Turmoil... Is Time Running Out For The GOP?

08/03/16 11:34AM EDT

Editor's Note: Below is a brief excerpt from Hedgeye Potomac Chief Political Strategist JT Taylor's Capital Brief sent to institutional clients each morning. For more information on how you can access our institutional research please email sales@hedgeye.com.

Capital Brief: Trump Turmoil... Is Time Running Out For The GOP? - JT   Potomac under 1 mb

“Words without actions are the assassins of idealism.”

-Herbert Hoover

TRUMP TURMOIL

Donald Trump is losing support within Republican party - and his campaign - at a time when unity and consolidation should be a foregone conclusion. His refusal to back Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator John McCain is the latest salvo with no end in sight. Republicans are refusing to campaign with Trump and are denouncing him or even withdrawing their endorsements – with NY Congressman Richard Hanna being the first to announce that he’s throwing his weight behind Hillary Clinton.

To make matters worse, turmoil is the norm at Trump Towers these days with fresh news that senior campaign officials are either being fired or are beyond frustration with their candidate. Not a good time to reshuffle the decks with 96 days to go.

CONTINUING THE KAHN CONTROVERSY

We’re now entering day five of the Khan saga after Trump (and his son) let fly a series of comments about the Gold Star family of a fallen U.S. soldier whose father spoke out against him at the DNC. The rift is starting to take a toll on the Republican party just as they were feeling better about their chances to keep the Senate this fall. The sooner Trump moves off this issue (neither the Khan family nor the media should sit by the phone waiting for an apology), the sooner he and the party can address the elephant in the room - Republican unity.

TIME RUNNING OUT FOR TRUMP

Letting Trump be Trump worked for the Trump campaign in the Republican primaries and it even helped him make it through the convention with a decent bounce. Through each and every controversy his supporters have stood by him with abandon - but in reality, he will not win over Independents and undecideds growing his base and appealing to those outside the party without making some character changes. If he wants to win the general election, picking up these two voter groups has to be the top - if not only - priority. There’s no time left for Trump’s tirades and twitter tantrums.

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