THE SHOWMAN SHOWS – AT 11:56 A.M. ET:  No matter what you might think of him, Donald Trump is a consummate actor.  Indeed, Ronald Reagan once said he couldn't understand how anyone without acting training could be president.  From London's Daily Mail:   

Donald Trump unveiled a new visual campaign theme in Miami on Friday – a mashup of the Broadway musical 'Les Misérables' and an epithet Hillary Clinton leveled at his supporters one week ago.

He took the stage, introduced by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, as the 'Les Mis' anthem 'Do You Hear the People Sing' blasted through loudspeakers.

The video screen behind the podium flashed to an artistic rendering of 'Les Deplorables,' complete with USA and 'Trump' flags replacing the French colors, and a bald eagle soaring over the revolutionary scene.

'Welcome to all of you deplorables!' Trump boomed as thousands screamed 'Trump! Trump! Trump!' and 'We love you!'

COMMENT:  Great political theater.  Trump will be criticized for it, of course, and I look forward to the writers of "Les Mis" demanding that he stop using their music, but the man attracts attention. 

What he must concentrate on is attracting the right kind of attention.   In the last few days, in the midst of his climb upward, Trump has blundered twice.  First, he brought up the so-called "birther" issue, an argument he once embraced that Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States.  The Clinton press seized on that, even though there's ample evidence that Clinton herself, during her 2008 primary fight against Obama, hinted at the same belief.  Second, in trying to illustrate his support for the Second Amendment, in contrast to Clinton's support for gun control, Trump suggested, in jest no doubt, that Clinton lose the armed protection of her Secret Service detail, and he wondered out loud what would happen to her then.

We don't joke about assassination.  Trump has done that before.  When he's on-message, he's terrific.  But in the last few days he's slipped and become Donald again.  His staff must get him back on track, or the old worries about him will start to surface.

September 17, 2016