A.G. Gancarski
The post-debate narrative for the Donald Trump campaign has been one of dysfunction. And according to Bloomberg, “Sunshine State Troubles” can be found in Florida, where Susie Wiles helms the ship.
Bloomberg says Trump’s troubles in Florida are legion.
Among them: the fact that Healy Baumgardner, whose Twitter bio still identifies her as “Natl Trump TV Surrogate, Original Team Trump Staffer, Press Sec/Spox FL Battleground State,” has left the Trump campaign.
“It is clear the campaign is now going in a direction I am no longer comfortable with and I have decided to move on,” Bloomberg quotes Baumgardner as saying.
The Bloomberg report spotlights other issues.
Among them: the web-based phone banking system, “Trump Talk,” is plagued with technical glitches.
The Trump campaign launched “Trump Talk” in mid-September, with predictable fanfare.
Camilo Sandoval, the director of data operations stated, “Mr. Trump’s army of volunteers have a high passion per capita, and every voter can make a HUGE difference in this race with just a few calls a day. Every call brings us one step closer to Making America Great Again. Trump Talk is old-fashioned GOTV phone banking made fun and easy — it is where the rubber really hits the road.”
Beyond the purported phone bank issues, the report claims Trump’s operation is otherwise failing Campaign 101.
Yard signs and bumper stickers allegedly are in short supply, and Bloomberg asserts there is apparently internal debate about the wisdom of spending $40,000 to “wrap an RV in campaign advertising for a bus tour in Florida.”
FloridaPolitics.com reached out to Wiles for comment on the latest reports of Trump Trouble on Friday.
She previously has debunked rumors from national outlets of “disarray” in the Trump campaign.
On Friday, she did so again, taking aim at the Bloomberg assertions.
“I was sorry to see Haley go – she is a talent. But,” Wiles wrote in an email, “people do what they think is best for them. Clearly, leaving a presidential campaign with 40 days to go is not ideal.”
“Trump Talk is fine and we are making calls at a rate beyond which I have ever seen. Voter contact is spectacular,” Wiles wrote, adding the “information about the bus is just flat out inaccurate.”
One might note that, despite the seeming structural advantages the Hillary Clinton campaign has over Trump in Florida, polling has been essentially a dead heat, with leads for Clinton within the margin of error.
