Trump is losing a winnable election. He has no one to blame but himself.
If Sun Tzu is right, that in the midst of chaos there also is opportunity, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is creating chaos effortlessly and squandering a prime opportunity.
In late August, with more than two months left in the campaign, the former president is losing a winnable election. Why? Four reasons.
Trump is behind because he lacks discipline
According to national polling, Trump is trailing slightly behind Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Of course, polls tell only one part of the election story and can change as November nears. Even in Texas, where I reside ? a deep red state ? Trump's lead has narrowed. Some polls show him up by only about 5 percentage points.
Trump's biggest hurdle is not President Joe Biden, Vice President Harris or her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Trump's biggest obstacle is Trump.
I've listened to Trump speak hundreds of times. Reporting on a news conference is a nightmare because Trump cannot commit to the self-discipline that it takes to prepare ahead of time, pare his thoughts to a handful of strong talking points and then cogently answer questions on what his administration would look like.
From the Democratic National Convention: Harris was fully herself in acceptance speech. That should worry Trump.
Trump insists on coming across like a moron. I'm not saying he is one, but he sounds like one. His thoughts and ideas flow with a stream of consciousness that makes William Faulkner look like a children's nursery rhyme. He jumps from idea to idea like a hip-hop artist doing a break dancing routine at the Olympic level.
As a result, he's unable to make a strong case for anything ? and politics is nothing if not the art of persuasion ? even though he actually has the record to show he accomplished good things for America during his previous administration.
Unlike Harris, Trump can run on his record. He can show that as president he supported religious liberty, cut taxes and nominated qualified jurists to the Supreme Court.
But when he talks about his record or his plans for a second term, it's a jumbled, garbled mess of word salad. My children have made more compelling arguments about what they want for dinner than Trump has for the American public to reelect him.
I was relieved to see that Trump has recruited the talented, articulate former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii to help him prepare for the presidential debates. Gabbard excoriated Harris in a 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate. I can only hope that Trump uses Gabbard's expertise so he can come across more prepared when he debates Harris next month. But I would be stunned if he actually listened to Gabbard.
Trump loves himself more than he loves America
Trump also is behind because he loves himself more than he really loves America. Trump's new debate coach notwithstanding, the former president's campaign is mostly focused on himself. It's not really about making America great again. It's not about advancing conservativism, aside from a few policy ideas. It's more about pumping up Trump's already overinflated ego.
Trump's personality doesn't allow him to accept advice or learn from his mistakes. Only people who accept responsibility for their behavior can find the courage to ask for help and really listen to it.
Democrats are a dishonest mess. DNC trots out Obama, Clinton to gaslight voters about Harris
Sometimes, Trump is grounded and patriotic: Who can forget the sight of him pumping his fist in the air as blood streamed down his face after a near-miss assassination attempt? He showed incredible bravery in that moment.
But more often, Trump is incredibly self-absorbed.
Even after nearly being killed, Trump went back to posting rants on Truth Social like a 9-year-old boy having a temper tantrum.
Instead of being disciplined, strategic and precise, he's flailing. He's occasionally sure, charismatic and interesting and at other times, frenetic, mean and boastful.
Trump's own history haunts him
When Democrats opine about Trump to me, the thing they mention the most is Trump's character flaws, including his sordid history with women and his many legal troubles. Those are the things that come to people's minds when they see Trump's name flash across their television screen.
Trump has been indicted in four criminal cases. Even if some of his legal problems are magnified and overblown, like his hush money conviction that elevated a misdemeanor to a felony based on a novel legal theory, they still demonstrate a pattern of making poor choices and skirting the law. Not all of the charges can be chalked up to weaponized government bureaucrats working against him.
Trump has repeatedly behaved like a misogynist. He has been dishonest when he should have told the truth. He has not lived in a manner befitting a U.S. president. Those flaws have repulsed many Americans who might have voted for a stronger Republican candidate.
Trump is behind because he can't focus on Harris
Trump's biggest pitfall is his inability to focus on his opponent in any serious way. Because of Trump's severe obsession with himself, he has been unable to expose and exploit Harris' weaknesses.
On Thursday night at the Democratic National Convention, Harris' skilled acceptance speech showed she is a formidable, but scary, opponent. Harris is scary because, with a laid-back tone and a quick smile, she's proposing socialist policies that would further burden already struggling Americans.
Her running mate, Tim Walz, has a record that makes California Gov. Gavin Newsom look almost like a moderate. The Democratic Party is campaigning on promises they've already failed to keep after four years of Harris and Biden leading the nation. Their failure to deliver on past promises is their greatest weakness. Trump should be capitalizing on that every second of every day.
But rather than spend an entire news conference hammering Harris or Walz's awful records, Trump loses focus. The next thing you know he's recalling a moment he had at Mar-a-Lago with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a "beautiful sofa."
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Those would be small distractions if they happened every now and then, and might seem endearing because they make him seem like a regular person. But they happen all the time.
Trump's inability to stay on point while speaking fits within a larger pattern of being unable to spend significant amounts of time and energy focused on blasting Harris' awful record.
The GOP cannot afford for Trump to remain a self-obsessed, unfocused communicator who is unable to expose Harris' scary policy ideas. A Harris presidency would plunge the nation into a level of leftism that we have never seen, and may not be able to recover from.
Trump must somehow find a way to do better. He's missing a huge opportunity in an election that is still winnable.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump can still beat Harris. But he must focus on her awful record