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| Eyeing open convention, Trump turns to man who helped win the last one | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Donald Trump has turned to one of the most experienced Republican political fixers in a bid to get his campaign across the finish line in first place and secure the party’s nomination. | Donald Trump has turned to one of the most experienced Republican political fixers in a bid to get his campaign across the finish line in first place and secure the party’s nomination. |
| Defeat in the Wisconsin primary this week made increasingly difficult the Republican frontrunner’s prospects of reaching the 1,237 delegate threshold needed. | Defeat in the Wisconsin primary this week made increasingly difficult the Republican frontrunner’s prospects of reaching the 1,237 delegate threshold needed. |
| So he has looked to one of the few backroom dealmakers with hands-on experience of successfully navigating a contested convention. | So he has looked to one of the few backroom dealmakers with hands-on experience of successfully navigating a contested convention. |
| Paul Manafort, 67, has worked in Republican politics for 40 years. The last time there was a contested convention in 1976, he played a key role in securing Gerald Ford’s nomination, helping run the convention floor and woo delegates for the incumbent president.. | Paul Manafort, 67, has worked in Republican politics for 40 years. The last time there was a contested convention in 1976, he played a key role in securing Gerald Ford’s nomination, helping run the convention floor and woo delegates for the incumbent president.. |
| He also worked on President Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign and has been an adviser to other Republican candidates such as former president George HW Bush and Bob Dole. Manafort has also become a powerful Washington lobbyist and has consulted for controversial international political figures such as Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian president of Ukraine overthrown in the Orange Revolution. | He also worked on President Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign and has been an adviser to other Republican candidates such as former president George HW Bush and Bob Dole. Manafort has also become a powerful Washington lobbyist and has consulted for controversial international political figures such as Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian president of Ukraine overthrown in the Orange Revolution. |
| His emergence on the Trump campaign comes as a brokered convention – where no candidate arrives in Cleveland with a majority of delegates – has become likely. Trump seems to have realized that he needs an organized, methodical effort to woo delegates, who are often the types of party activist that the New York billionaire’s campaign has long scorned. Manafort will help steady the ship in that regard – but with a campaign scrambling to catch up organizationally, the question is whether it will be too little, too late. | His emergence on the Trump campaign comes as a brokered convention – where no candidate arrives in Cleveland with a majority of delegates – has become likely. Trump seems to have realized that he needs an organized, methodical effort to woo delegates, who are often the types of party activist that the New York billionaire’s campaign has long scorned. Manafort will help steady the ship in that regard – but with a campaign scrambling to catch up organizationally, the question is whether it will be too little, too late. |
| On the campaign trail, Trump has repeatedly complained about his operation being out-organized in Louisiana in particular, a state where he won the primary but tied with Ted Cruz in the delegate count. An embarrassing example of Trump’s organizational flaws were revealed in a district convention in Colorado on Thursday where the campaign handed out glossy literature to urge attendees to vote for delegates who weren’t on the ballot. | On the campaign trail, Trump has repeatedly complained about his operation being out-organized in Louisiana in particular, a state where he won the primary but tied with Ted Cruz in the delegate count. An embarrassing example of Trump’s organizational flaws were revealed in a district convention in Colorado on Thursday where the campaign handed out glossy literature to urge attendees to vote for delegates who weren’t on the ballot. |
| Manafort, a longtime lobbying partner of Trump’s political consigliere Roger Stone, has seen a rather dramatic rise in Trump world in recent weeks and the veteran operative is still working for Trump on an unpaid volunteer basis. | Manafort, a longtime lobbying partner of Trump’s political consigliere Roger Stone, has seen a rather dramatic rise in Trump world in recent weeks and the veteran operative is still working for Trump on an unpaid volunteer basis. |
| The New York real estate developer’s top aide, Corey Lewandowski, has seen his role on the campaign diminish in favor of Manafort. | The New York real estate developer’s top aide, Corey Lewandowski, has seen his role on the campaign diminish in favor of Manafort. |
| Lewandowski had become an increasingly controversial figure after being charged with committing misdemeanor battery against a female reporter for conservative news site Breitbart.com. In a separate incident, Lewandowski accosted a protester in a crowd at a rally. Despite Trump’s willingness to unabashedly stand by Lewandowski, the candidate’s growing issues with delegate selection and preparing for a contested convention have put Lewandowski increasingly in the line of fire. | Lewandowski had become an increasingly controversial figure after being charged with committing misdemeanor battery against a female reporter for conservative news site Breitbart.com. In a separate incident, Lewandowski accosted a protester in a crowd at a rally. Despite Trump’s willingness to unabashedly stand by Lewandowski, the candidate’s growing issues with delegate selection and preparing for a contested convention have put Lewandowski increasingly in the line of fire. |
| In an interview on Friday, Manafort further asserted his independence from Lewandowski, saying: “I work directly for the boss.” | In an interview on Friday, Manafort further asserted his independence from Lewandowski, saying: “I work directly for the boss.” |
| “I listen to everybody, but I have one man whose voice is louder than everybody else’s,” he told CNN. | “I listen to everybody, but I have one man whose voice is louder than everybody else’s,” he told CNN. |
| Strikingly, Manafort, who has known Trump for decades and owns an apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower, referred to the candidate as “Donald”. Other staffers on the campaign call him “Mr Trump”. | Strikingly, Manafort, who has known Trump for decades and owns an apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower, referred to the candidate as “Donald”. Other staffers on the campaign call him “Mr Trump”. |
| Lewandowski rose to his prominent role on the campaign by enabling Trump. Longtime political confidants of the billionaire – men such as Roger Stone and Sam Nunberg, a Stone associate – were pushed out of the way as Lewandowski took control of the levers of the campaign in the summer of 2015. His borrowed campaign motto from the West Wing, “Let Trump be Trump”, was viewed by someone familiar with the campaign as turning being a yes man into a strategic imperative. | Lewandowski rose to his prominent role on the campaign by enabling Trump. Longtime political confidants of the billionaire – men such as Roger Stone and Sam Nunberg, a Stone associate – were pushed out of the way as Lewandowski took control of the levers of the campaign in the summer of 2015. His borrowed campaign motto from the West Wing, “Let Trump be Trump”, was viewed by someone familiar with the campaign as turning being a yes man into a strategic imperative. |
| Before joining Trump’s team, Lewandowski had not managed a campaign since 2002. However, the operative, who spent a long stint with Americans for Prosperity, the linchpin of the political groups that comprise the controversial conservative Koch network, is still widely respected among his peers. | Before joining Trump’s team, Lewandowski had not managed a campaign since 2002. However, the operative, who spent a long stint with Americans for Prosperity, the linchpin of the political groups that comprise the controversial conservative Koch network, is still widely respected among his peers. |
| Lewandowski will maintain his role as the campaign manager, but Manafort will now be in charge of planning for the convention in Cleveland and dealing with long-neglected tasks of outreach to party activists and organizing in internal Republican contests. | Lewandowski will maintain his role as the campaign manager, but Manafort will now be in charge of planning for the convention in Cleveland and dealing with long-neglected tasks of outreach to party activists and organizing in internal Republican contests. |