State GOP will handle Trump’s ground game

The GOP presidential campaign of Donald Trump is putting his ground game in the hands of people who a) may not like him; b) may not have all that much cash; or c) may have the cash, and may like him, but have other priorities. From The New York Times:

Donald J. Trump is leaning heavily on Republican Party organizations to provide crucial campaign functions like getting out the vote, digital outreach and fund-raising, at a time when some leading Republicans have called for party officials to cut off Mr. Trump and focus instead on maintaining control of Congress.

This also means this fall’s Trump campaign in Georgia will look — well, somewhat like it does now. Last week, state GOP Chairman John Padgett was in Troup County to address local Republicans. Here’s how Padgett described the coming ground game in Georgia, via the LaGrange News:

“Last time, we had about 21 offices scattered around the state,” Padgett said. “This year, we’re going to use your offices. We’re going to come in, and in some parts of the state share with you, and it’s going to be Trump-Troup County GOP. We’re in the process of working all that out and talking to chairmen around the state. We are going to be Trump’s ground folks.”

He said the state GOP plans to mobilize campaigners to knock on doors and make telephone calls in support of Trump.

Here’s the thing: Now, two months have gone by since the Republican Party of Georgia filed its last financial report, so the situation could well have changed.

But as of June 30, the state party reported about $250,000 in cash on hand, thanks in part to a stream of large corporate donations. But that’s a far cry from the millions it commanded a halfdozen years ago and must be counterbalanced with roughly $200,000 in debt documented in the same June report.

Clearly, if forces are sending greenbacks the way of the state party, allowing it to act as a pass-through, the dynamics change. But a program based on shared office space hints that a low cashflow situation still exists. Which means that a GOTV effort in Trump’s name will have limited resources available to it.