Trump’s Scranton rally shows he’s losing his touch

SCRANTON, PA –– Arriving characteristically late for his Scranton, PA rally directly opposite a Masonic Temple, the infamous Donald was summoned by the roar of a crowd and his Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence.

The Republican nominee then gave one his most rambling, nonsensical speeches to date – he seemed to be running out of content. What can only be described as a formulaic speech was nearly identical to any other he’s made in the past year, consisting almost solely of brags of the level of respect he demands in the international business community, devoid of names or examples.

His over-the-top arrogance obviously wasn’t out of the norm, but his level of complacency here to simply go through the motions was. He relied heavily on buzzwords to get the crowd going. Raucous cheers erupted every time he mentioned “Crooked Hillary,” a nickname he credits himself with.

“Lock her up! Lock her up!” and “USA! USA!” responded the enamoured mass of supporters. While one or two Trump fans almost involuntarily spat out: “Fuck Hillary!”

His most notorious talking point – The Wall – received only a brief mention, if only as a crowdpleaser. But it did have its moment in the spotlight in a cheerleader type exchange between him and the audience.

“What are we gonna build?”

“A wall!”

“Who’s going to pay for it?”

“Mexico!”

At this point in the campaign, laboring on his most infamous policy issue at his rallies is like a band only playing its hits. His day-one supporters already know the words, but they’re still amped to yell the catchphrase.

Now, moving forward from the primaries, Trump is looking to court his skeptics.

The disturbing evolution of the Trump train is the expansion of its supporter base to include well-spoken, well-intentioned conservative Americans, aside from its core band of Looney Tunes. It’s a work in progress.

Since Trump officially clinched the nomination last week at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, longtime Republican voters have had to face their bitter options: support their party’s official candidate, vote for the candidate they’ve been conditioned to hate, vote third party, or stay home on Election Day.

There were some murmurs of uncertainty in the line for the event. Some people simply came to see what he had to say after finally having to relinquish hope on the candidates they had backed throughout the primaries. One man who came to the rally to give Donald a chance to sway him was a former Kasich supporter still uncomfortable with Trump because he called himself a “real conservative.”

If undecided voters were hoping to be courted, they were likely disappointed by the event in Scranton. Unlike his opponents in the primaries, Trump offered few policy ideas, and relied mostly on insulting his opponents.

Some attendees may have been scared off by the jarringly sexist and racist shirts, signs, and buttons touted by the hardcore Trumpers, or the fact that it was apparently deemed necessary to have a recorded announcement playing over the loudspeakers asking attendants not to harm the peaceful protesters outside.

Some may have been disappointed by his lackluster performance. Aside from arriving an hour late, Trump was just not his most compelling, charismatic self. Mike Pence gave a brief, unemotional introduction, and the only other speaker was Trump’s son Eric.

Trump exited the stage to The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” an old favorite for his events before, and which now seems undeniably like a cruel dig at the current state of the Grand Old Party.