Trump has the potential to be a force

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump needs to put together a serious campaign organization, and fast. His acceptance speech Thursday evening was a prime example of why.

It wasn’t perfect. It was long and at times repetitive. But it was Trump, and it was a strong and effective case for the themes – like ending illegal immigration and fighting what he sees as unfair trade deals – that are central to his appeal. Passionate and yet loaded with substance, delivered in orderly fashion from a teleprompter and yet sounding just like the extemporaneous Trump that won voters over in the primaries, it was the showcase for what a focused and organized effort by Trump and his campaign can produce.

The events of the past week, both positive and negative for Trump, have illustrated conclusively that the solo promo campaign he waged in the primaries will not work for him in the general election.

In the primaries, the challenge for Trump was twofold: to somehow stand out in a field of 17 competitors, and to demonstrate that he was the candidate to push aside the establishment in a year of deep discontent with business-as-usual.

To be sure, he will still need to draw attention and tap into anti-establishment fever. But to close the deal (to use a metaphor he would appreciate), he now needs to demonstrate that he is going to replace the establishment with something better. He must show that he is competent to govern. Yet incompetence – which is what we’ve seen again and again over the past week – suggests instead that it’s not OK.

Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, for all her myriad flaws, is the devil people know. They must be convinced the devil they don’t know – with respect to how he will govern – won’t turn the place into Hell.

What’s more, Clinton is far better funded than any of Trump’s Republican competitors, even former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. With endless amounts of cash, and the only serious alternative to Trump, Clinton will have little trouble seizing both free and paid media and sharing Trump’s limelight. In addition, having spent 25 years on spin cycle being put through the wringer, Clinton is not going to wilt like Bush did when Trump picks on her.

Meantime, Trump’s shtick is getting old. During the past week he has issued his predicted colorful tweets. He called America a “crime scene,” decried the “Clinton News Network,” returned to labeling Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas,” blasting “Lyin’ Crooked Hillary” and charging that President Barack Obama is trying to “destroy Israel.”

The rollout of his vice presidential pick, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, was a fiasco that not even the JV team would have conceived. Not only did the pick leak to the press before it was announced, but stories appeared that Trump was equivocating the night before the announcement.

Ostensibly because of the attack in Nice, Trump delayed the announcement from last Friday to Saturday. But then, remembering that Pence would have to file for reelection for governor Friday – or not – he meekly dribbled out the bug news via a tweet.

Then, incomprehensibly, Melania Trump delivered a speech that was so poorly vetted it hadn’t even been run through a free program that checks for phrases that had been written previously by others. Within hours of delivering a beautifully spoken address, Melania Trump was suddenly accused of being a rank plagiarist. Instead of performing Damage Control 101 – admit the mistake and move on – the Trump campaign denied the problem. Then it waited a full 24 hours to produce the person responsible for allowing the copied phrases from Michelle Obama’s speech at the 2008 Democratic convention, ensuring a two-day negative story. On the other hand, the failed attempted hijacking of the convention Wednesday evening by Texas Senator Ted Cruz Thursday showed, like Thursday night’s acceptance speech, what a little organization and planning can do. Aware that Cruz was not going to endorse him during his speech, the campaign arranged for Trump supporters on the floor to begin shouting the senator down. Trump himself appeared in the wings – followed by a spotlight – just as Cruz was closing his remarks.

The reality-TV stagecraft ensured that Cruz was humiliated. He was cast as petty, creating a moment from which the Texas senator may never bounce back.

But Trump’s campaign remains relatively skeletal. His joint PAC with the Republican National Committee raised $32.4 million from its formation in late May through the end of June, but Trump’s campaign kept only $2.2 million of the haul.

Reports of disarray in his campaign continue to circulate, with some pointing to Ivanka Trump’s husband Jared Kushner as the de facto campaign chief even while Paul Manafort continues to hold the title of chairman. Trump cannot rely on the Republican National Committee to wage his campaign. A successful presidential effort needs a cadre of its own dedicated loyalists to pull it through the tough times. The RNC technically belongs to Trump, but it still represents the establishment he fought against. It serves many other masters, including House and Senate Republicans desperate to maintain control of Congress.

Trump must put together his own organization to ensure he is seen as a viable political leader. Otherwise, he risks becoming the punch line to the joke his detractors have been trying unsuccessfully to tell all along. The Apex Court has directed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to express regret or face trial for publicly declaring that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. While addressing a public meeting at Bhiwandi in Thane in March 2014, Rahul had stated that the “RSS people killed Gandhi”. A criminal case was registered against him for making the accusations and the matter came before the Supreme Court when Rahul challenged the summoning orders by the Maharashtra High Court in a defamation case filed regarding his comments. The Court has observed that the collective denunciation of the RSS was not valid. The Congress, meanwhile, is determined to defend its leader and has already made it known that he would under no circumstances apologise for his remarks referring to the RSS and instead provide adequate material and historic facts to prove his point. During its over 90 years of existence, the RSS has been barred four times over. In January 1947, the first ban was imposed for a few days by Malik Khizr Hayat Tiwana, the Prime Minister of the ruling Unionist party in undivided India. However, after the gunning down of the Mahatma at the Birla House in New Delhi on 30 January 1948, the then Home Minister Sardar Patel again prohibited all activities by the RSS on 4 February. Several of its leaders including the Sarsanghchalak, Guru Golwalkar were arrested. Nevertheless, the charge of criminal conspiracy levelled against the outfit could not be proved even in the Apex Court and the government decided to lift the ban in July 1949. During its chequered history, the RSS was outlawed two more times—once during the Emergency and again for nearly seven months following the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya in December 1992. It must be mentioned here, the RSS also received endorsement from its bitter critic and opponent Jawaharlal Nehru, who in the post Sino-Indian conflict, permitted an RSS contingent to participate in the Republic Day parade in 1963 in recognition of its selfless service and civil defence activities. In times of natural calamity, the RSS has always played a pivotal role in providing relief and has stood out for its extraordinary work. In fact, no other voluntary organisation has been able to match the contribution of the saffron outfit in being there at times of adversity.

However, one must add that there has also been a sinister side to the organisation and it has been accused on numerous occasions of fuelling communal trouble in various parts of the country, though it has escaped being indicted directly due to the absence of sufficient proof in the courts. For justifiable reasons, the RSS is viewed with extreme suspicion by the minorities, who perceive it as a Hindu fascist organisation, whose sole aim is to establish a Hindu dominated “Akhand Bharat” (Greater India that includes regions which were once part of the nation). The RSS has several wings and generously extends patronage to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which comprises like-minded people who repose full faith in its ideology. Therefore, it is a natural corollary that in every election, the Congress, which has been nurtured by its conviction in secularism, finds itself opposing forces represented by the BJP and the Sangh. Rahul Gandhi, it is evident, came out with his statement in Thane in this context. It is another matter that if the Apex Court insists, he may have to either apologise or face trial.

However, Rahul is perhaps unaware that his own grandmother Indira Gandhi had adopted a soft Hindutva approach during her second innings as Prime Minister and even his uncle, the late Sanjay Gandhi, who was her heir apparent, had cordial relations with top functionaries of the Sangh. His father Rajiv Gandhi inherited the soft Hindutva legacy of his mother and as a consequence enjoyed an excellent rapport with Bhaurao Deoras, the younger brother of the then RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras. Several key figures in the RSS, BJP and Congress have first hand information of Rajiv’s meetings with Bhaurao Deoras at different locations including 46, Pusa Road, the residence of family friend and industrialist Kapil Mohan. Amongst those who have confirmed the meetings of the RSS leader with Rajiv include Sangh ideologue Govindacharya, former South Delhi mayor, Subhash Arya, Anil Bali, who had unrestricted access to Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and also those closely working with the late Prime Minister.

Rajiv is understood to have taken several key decisions in consultation with the RSS leadership. For instance, as mentioned in a front page report in The Sunday Guardian 14 months ago, the decision to get the locks opened at the disputed site in Ayodhya were taken by the Prime Minister in consultation with the RSS leadership in the aftermath of the Shah Bano controversy ( Rajiv Gandhi had secret pact with RSS leaders, 28 June). On a couple of occasions, the two had met at the residence of Arun Singh, a close confidant of Rajiv at that time.

Bhaurao had advised Rajiv to hold elections in May 1989, as it would give little time to the opposition, which was uniting against him to organise itself. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister decided to go in for the polls six months later and the result was that the Congress lost the mandate it had secured in 1984.

It is obvious that Rahul is perhaps unaware of his father’s association with some RSS leaders and is swayed by those in his party who had contributed in creating a perception that the Congress had tilted towards the minorities and was thus against the majority community. This widespread belief was one of the factors for the Congress drubbing in the 2014 polls. Therefore, on the RSS issue, Rahul must tread with utmost caution. Between us.