Trump has a lot to learn about winning

Of the rough and tumble of politics Harry S. Truman famously said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” I’d rephrase it as, “If you want to be involved in politics, get used to the heat.” Not as blunt as Truman but I hope more inclusive.

Lately, Donald Trump supporters have discovered that it’s not enough to turn up at mega-rallies and then vote in primaries. There is much more to organizing an effective presidential campaign, and they’ve been caught short a few times. Being bested by better organized Ted Cruz supporters who did follow clearly established rules for delegate assignment to the national convention had to be frustrating, but they have only Trump to blame.

Trump bills himself as the smart guy who can hire the right people; everyone else is an idiot. Meanwhile, Cruz ran rings around Trump and his supporters who weren’t organized for the state party process. If you can’t beat Cruz in Colorado, how will you beat Clinton?

State party processes may be foreign to new voters, but that doesn’t mean they are not welcome. The Beaufort County GOP would be only too pleased to have new participants. Likewise for the Lowcountry’s many active GOP clubs. You just have to show up. Younger people are especially encouraged. Information is available at the Beaufort County GOP website.

Trump has had a systemic weakness in organizing that traces back to the candidate himself. Heck, even members of his family failed to vote for him in New York because they did not register in time. You can’t blame that on Cruz.

If Trump supporters think things are tough now, just wait.

Recently, Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic governor of Virginia, signed an executive order restoring voting rights to more than 200,000 felons, many of whom were convicted of violent crimes like rape and murder. Most of them will vote for Hillary Clinton in the fall. If Republicans had done this, the media would howl with stories of a GOP “war on women” while endlessly trotting out victims and their families before the camera. I guess “Rapists for Hillary” doesn’t have the same ring to it.

It’s in Virginia and a handful of other key states where presidential elections are decided by a few thousand votes. Democrats hire full-time staffers to drive voters to early voting centers and mine votes in minority communities. Both Mitt Romney and John McCain lost because they failed to follow a similar plan.

At my blog, Mike’s America, I looked at the 10 closest states that decided the presidential election in 2012. Nearly all of these were won by Barack Obama with less, often much less, than 200,000 votes. In those same states, there has been a surge of GOP voters. But turnout in a primary is no guarantee of success. It takes ground organization, which is how Obama won. Trump doesn’t have it.

Are Trump supporters organized to make the phone calls, go door-to-door, drive people to the polls, write the letters to the editor, put up the yard signs and man the polls? Or will they just hope that the Cruz supporters they have insulted for months will step up to the challenge?

At the beginning of this process, I pledged to support the eventual GOP nominee. That pledge holds even if it’s Trump. Unfortunately, many Trump supporters refused to join me. Will they now step up and lead the fight or just sit back and complain when Clinton wins?

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 9:15 AM with the headline "Trump has a lot to learn about winning."