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I remember TONS of articles about polls showing Romney behind Obama and the same logic was put forth: oversampling of Democrats. Problem is, all the polls turned out to be spot on, and then some.

Of course we have seen this movie before and the ending does not change no matter how many times we replay it. The electoral college landscape is set up against the Republican nominee and we must acknowledge that the electoral college is simply the starting point.

The problem is compounded in this election because, unlike Romney, Trump does not have adequate money in the till (even assuming he can get it) and he does not have anything resembling an up to speed campaign staff. His time to remedy these potentially fatal deficiencies is running out. Another rarely commented upon factor which could decide this election assuming Trump and bring it close, that is within two or three points, is the utter absence in the Trump of data mining and its application. I have been posting on these threads for years the reports which were originally published by MIT Technology Journal describing the revolutionary application of digital technology to electioneering. It seems clear that if the election is within two or three points the candidate who has mastered this art will prevail.

The Republican national committee claims that it has mastered the art but it made the same claim four years ago and not only did the assurances ring hollow on election day but the party and the candidate were both utterly humiliated when the computers literally crashed on election eve. Trump himself has no such expertise in his camp but there are assurances coming from the Chairman of the National Committee that the Republicans have digital mining completely mastered and they are cooperating with Trump to apply the technology. We shall see.

My fear is that lack of money, the lack of staff, the lack of technology, and the lack of time, singly and combined, present new obstacles to a Republican candidate who already suffers from a huge handicap simply by accepting the party's nomination and carrying the standard.

We are depending on Trump's charisma, the power of his personality, and his unique ability to crystallize an issue and make it understandable and unforgettable to the mass of the voting public. He must identify and crystallize the issues such as immigration trade etc. which make the affirmative case for his election and he must crystallize the evidence which disqualifies Hillary. He must do this in the teeth of a hostile media, yet another obstacle.

We will often hear that we are early in the campaign season. I emphatically disagree. This is the season in which Trump and Hillary, although to well-known figures for decades in American culture, will be defined. Hillary has the money and she is spending it to define Trump. This is a particularly dangerous time for Trump because of Nathan Bedford's first maxim of American politics: all politics in America is not local but ultimately racial. Hillary is defining Trump as a racist and a bigot. If that definition sticks, the obstacles to election will become daunting indeed.

Trump made a great speech to define Hillary, but free media alone is probably not enough. We will often hear that free media might be enough in the primary contest starting with 17 contestants but it is not sufficient for a national election. I think that is clearly true.

As for the general election, we conservatives must always understand that we do not represent the voting public. We know the issues, we know the arguments, we certainly are not swayed by some television commercial which superficially distorts the underlying realities with which we are so familiar. Joe sixpack is an entirely different voting animal. He has feelings rather than convictions, he votes emotionally rather than analytically, he is not a party loyalist or, better, loyal to a philosophy, he is a habitual party line voter disinclined to break habits but when he does so it is for a superficial and likely transitory motivation.

That is not to denigrate the voter, he has other things in life which are more important to him but it does illustrate the power of television and, more recently, the power of digital mining.

There is a great resentment and unease smoldering just below the surface of America. No one is better equipped by virtue of his persona to fan those smoldering embers into a blaze which can win the election. But that is the only way he can win the election.

Hillary is defining Trump as a racist and a bigot. If that definition sticks, the obstacles to election will become daunting indeed.

It's unfortunate that Ted Cruz gave credence to this very same notion in the aftermath of the David Duke kerfluffle. Indeed, Cruz's play of the race card in the aftermath of that incident was one of his early missteps that turned myself and many other supporters away from him, because it was such a shameful act of political opportunism.

Trump is no racist or bigot, and such reckless accusations should be forcefully rebutted. He might not speak on such issues in a politically correct manner, but the historical track record Trump has established effectively rebuts such patently false accusations.

While it's tru that Hillary is attempting to define Trump as a racist and bigot, she is not succeeding, (nor will she) and neither will her cheerleading ilk in the Media, Establishment, and GOPe (but I repeat myself).

If the Democrats try to make such calumny a focal point of Hillary's campaign, I believe they will be strongly rebuked in November. Donald Trump is already showing signs of making significant inroads into Black and Hispanic demographics, already eclipsing, for example, Romney's performance with such groups.

If Donald Trump gets even modestly improved percentages of these target demographics (minorities, working class Democrats, etc.) vis-a-vis the two previous cycles, then he will win in a landslide of significant proportions.

There's little that makes patriotic Americans angrier than to be accused of racism or bigotry (either directly, or by proxy, via attacks on their nominee). The smear simply does not conform to objective reality, and is rebutted by ample enough evidence.

The Hillary campaign is trying to conflate opposition to current US immigration policy with racism and bigotry, and the American People are showing signs that they can tell the difference between the two, and that does not portend well for the Hillary campaign.

Consider the fact that, even with clear oversampling of Democrats in these polls, and in denial of the obvious trends in voter enthusiasm which are the opposite of the two previous cycles, and also with the entire Uni-party Establishment cheering and propping up Hillary tirelessly on every Media outlet, while simultaneously engaging in relentless demonization of Donald Trump, they still can only show her leading by single digits!

I firmly assert that Trump's standing in the electorate is understated, and there is ample logical basis for such a belief if one care's to dig beneath the surface.

In any event, glad to see you back, and I hope at some point that your vote for Trump will transcend merely "holding your nose", and cross over into active advocacy, because there's no doubt you can help persuade People to vote for Trump, should you ever be so inclined. In aggregate, merely holding one's nose may not be sufficient to prevent Hillary's election, so I hope you will do everything in your power to help see to it that she is not elected President in November.

Hopefully, at some point, if you maintain an open mind, Trump will be able to convince even you that he's a decent American who, while flawed, loves his country dearly, wants to make it great again, and will work tirelessly to do so in his own unique way.

Vote Trump, and promote Trump!