Trump's Use Of Teleprompter Shows GOP Leader He Is Serious Candidate

In another sign that Donald Trump may be in a bit of trouble if his poll numbers do not improve by the July convention, earlier today Mitch McConnell basically said that Trump was not a credible candidate yet, but "[h]e’s getting closer. Getting closer." Definitely not the most ringing endorsement from the Majority Leader. He followed that up with some nice words about Hillary Clinton, saying "[s]he’s an intelligent and capable person, no question about it." It certainly sounds like McConnell is already positioning to dump Trump or essentially run as a counterweight to a near-certain Clinton presidency. Either way, it's not good news for Trump.

But what also struck me was McConnell's comment on how Trump was starting to look like a more serious and credible candidate. He says, "people are looking for a level of seriousness that is typically conveyed by having a prepared text and Teleprompter and staying on message." So seriousness is indicated by having a prepared speech and using a Teleprompter to read it. Hmmm, I guess I'm confused because my recollection is that Republicans used to think that having a prepared speech and reading it from a Teleprompter indicated that you really weren't ready to do the job as President.  And my recollection turns out to be correct. When Obama was running for re-election in 2011 and 2012, he used the Teleprompter for many of his speeches around the country and that became a talking point in the right wing echo chamber. "It’s sort of a soft joke that the president needs a teleprompter because he doesn’t have a sound command of the issues and doesn’t know what he’s doing,” conservative strategist Greg Mueller said. “He’s still in job training." Other Republicans picked up on this pathetic attack including Romney, Pawlenty, Cain, Bachmann, and others.

Today, however, the use of the Teleprompter indicates that you apparently really are a serious candidate. Apparently that threshold has been lowered considerably over the last four or five years. But that's nothing new for Republicans these days.