I just returned from vacation on the Delaware beach coast and in Washington, D.C.  During this week, the press focused on Donald Trump's changes in his campaign, while limiting the information in his speeches.  While Manafort helped him secure the delegates needed for nomination, he was unable to get Trump to stay on message.  This is the Achilles heel of the campaign – whether Trump can stay on message and not provide ammunition for the anti-Republican press.

I found that those talking about the election were embarrassed by Trump’s public pronouncements but were not enthusiastic about Hillary; they disliked both candidates but were willing to vote for the devil they knew rather than risk an unknown.  Despite being in strong Democrat country, few people expressed any loyalty to Clinton.  At the breakfast tables, few people turned to watch anything Hillary said, but many did pay attention to Trump’s speeches replayed the following day.  They were intrigued, if not uncomfortable.  This means the message catches their ear.  Can Conway focus the message so Trump can reach those uncomfortable persons?

Trump is the populist against the establishment.  But this time he is the conservative populist.  He will modify his nomination period proposals: he will build a wall, but deport only illegal aliens who have criminal records.  He has altered his tax reform proposals to more align with the congressional Republicans.  He will offer a replacement for Obamacare, unlike Hillary, that allows the private sector more autonomy and reduced federal regulation.  He will reform the trade agreements so they are less damaging for American industries.  He will alter the Middle East globalism so that we fight meaningful wars and conclude them quickly, rather than getting caught in quagmires.  He will value American citizenship above internationalism.  He will reduce the growth of the federal government compared to Hillary.  He intends to honor pledges made to our taxpayers and not destroy Social Security, instead expanding our national wealth through improved job markets.

This week he asked minorities to support him while asking, can they do any worse?  The Democratic Party has taken the minority vote and offered mere morsels rather than solutions to their economic plight.  As Dinesh D’Souza has shown in his movie Hillary’s America, the Democrats have helped create the urban plantation slum to maintain a pliant base.  Trump’s outreach to these underserved persons might affect the small percentage necessary to swing states.  More important, it might make those uncomfortable voters feel that he is the unifier they seek.  They sought that in Obama and have been unfulfilled.  This fight is over the 10-15% of those undecided voters.  Will they vote for Trump or the third-party nominees and throw the vote to Hillary?

Perhaps the most important job for Conway is to get the unconvinced Republican voters to come out for Trump.  In 2012, Mitt Romney could not make the sale to these citizens, and for now Trump has failed.  He has time, but it is running out.  This new message of unity might convince John Kasich to stop his obstruction.  Maybe he is too petty to change his position and help in Ohio.  The main obstacle to Trump’s success is the division in the Republican Party.  Despite the fight, Hillary was able to unify her party.

Can Conway get Trump to heal the Republican Party divisions?  If she and the Trump staff are successful, it would be a great comeback for Trump.  His advantage is that Hillary is an undesirable candidate, but that is his problem, too.  Can Conway help the Donald keep the campaign on the issues and Hillary instead of on himself?