Newsmax
WSJ: Only Half of Trump's Top 10 Consultants Have Presidential Campaign Experience
Tuesday, August 30, 2016 01:51 PM
By: Brian Freeman
Republican nominee Donald Trump has proudly stated that he is running for the nation's highest office in a non-conventional manner. One prime example is that half of his 10 highest paid consultants had never previously been involved in a presidential campaign, The Wall Street Journal reports.
His unorthodoxy can be easily contrasted with that of his opponent, as only one of Democrat Hillary Clinton's 10 highest paid consultants has no experience on such a campaign, according to the Journal.
Trump's decision to go this route is testing the necessity of the traditional, large network of professional consultants who have been working for presidential campaigns for decades but who have mostly been bypassed by the real estate mogul.
Trump has instead relied on a smaller base with which he is familiar. Even some of Trump's staff who have experience have not worked on a presidential campaign in quite some time, such as South Carolina state lawmaker James Merrill, who was last involved in a presidential campaign in 2000, when he worked for John McCain, the Journal reports.
Trump supporters say the fresh thinking that someone who has not previously been involved in a presidential campaign brings is crucial, and that Trump has other values besides experience that he covets, such as loyalty and passion.
Most strategists, however, insist that experience is indispensable. According to the Journal, Kevin Madden, who advised Mitt Romney in 2008, emphasized that presidential candidates seek out those with experience, because they have a proven track record and have shown they are able to function properly in a high-stress situation.
Another widely held criticism of the Trump strategy, as detailed in Campaigns & Elections, is that his inexperienced staff has neglected the ground game.
These critics contend that for a well-organized campaign, banking votes can mean as much as a four-point gain, but they say the Republican nominee's apparatus in battleground states is severely lacking.
This means Trump will find it difficult to get out the needed number of votes, something a more traditional campaign staff would have been more likely to accomplish, the critics say.
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