I'll admit that I've grown quite angry with presidential candidate Donald Trump due to his reckless behavior on the campaign trail the past few weeks. Not only has he not focused on going after the radical ideas of his opponent, VP Kamala Harris, but he turned his ire towards a popular GOP governor (Brian Kemp of Georgia) in a state which is a "must win" this November. It's also been reported that he became hostile with the head of a pro Trump Super PAC, one which is pouring money into campaign ads in key battleground states.
Meanwhile, Harris has overtaken Trump in most national polls and has turned three states (Arizona, Nevada and Georgia) from "Lean Trump" to "Toss-up." And while Trump, his running mate JD Vance, Trump surrogates and supporters rightly call out Harris for her unwillingness to conduct interviews with national media (thus shielding herself from reminding voters how awful she is), it doesn't change the fact that Trump himself has woefully lacked focused.
Yeah, I know what some of you may be thinking. This is going to turn into one of my obligatory anti Trump screeds. And while that may have been the path I took had I conveyed my initial thoughts earlier this week, I've had time to ponder this a little more. What I believe now is Trump has lost his edge, but I don't say that in a condescending manner. No, it would appear that Trump is.....human (despite what his most fervent critics might say). Specifically, he survived an assassination attempt barely more than a month ago, yet got right back into campaign mode (the Republican National Convention began literally two days after Trump was almost killed). As such, I wouldn't be shocked if he's enduring some significant PTSD while trying desperately to adjust his campaign strategy now that an opponent he'd prepared to face for 3-1/2 years suddenly dropped from the race. Such a pivot in strategy would be daunting in normal circumstances, much less for a person dealing with legitimate personal trauma like almost being shot to death as well as the prospects facing jail time after his felony conviction in a sham "hush money" trial.
The question is, can Trump get it together with less than 12 weeks until Election Day? I honestly don't know. Truth is, I'm beginning to wonder if this campaign is even prudent for him at this point. The assassination attempt may not have been successful in literally killing Trump, but it appears to have seriously wounded his desire.
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