Trump Goes All In. Why Are Public Pensions So Messed Up?

Trump Goes All In

During the post-convention plunge in Trump’s poll ratings, many of his closest associates (including RNC Chairman Prince Priebus and campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Jr.) urged Trump to try to exercise self-discipline and be more “presidential.” Last Wednesday, in appointing Steve Bannon as campaign chairman while demoting Manafort and elevating Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager, Trump decisively rejected their advice. He did so after coming to the opposite conclusion—that the reason he was losing was precisely because he was trying to stifle the reckless, uncouth, and anti-PC abandon which served him so well during the primaries.

Trump’s hard-core supporters were delighted: “Let Trump be Trump” has long been their battle cry. The GOP leadership and doctrinal conservatives were aghast, since Trump was apparently giving up on any effort to unify the party. Bannon in particular (as head of Breitbart News) leads a crusade of “alt conservative” populists and nativists who have directed at least as much rage against the “Republican establishment” as against Clinton and the Democrats. Pollsters and political forecasters, meanwhile, simply rolled their eyes. Almost without exception, these professionals have been saying that Trump’s only hope was to cement party unity, pull back the sharp edges, and reach out earnestly to independents in the middle. Trump to the pros: Like hell I will.

My own reaction is mixed. I actually know Steve Bannon…