On the brink of the nomination, Donald tones down the Trump

Donald J. Trump is honest to goodness the presumptive Republican nominee.

“Honestly, if we win Indiana, it’s over,” Trump said to the sea of supporters rippling with speckles of red “Make America Great Again” caps. The Indiana primary will be his confirmation after a underwhelming last stand from Ted Cruz in the Hoosier state.

It’s the state of college basketball, and Trump has IU’s Bobby Knight and — as featured in this rally — Purdue’s Gene Keady. It’s a game over. Indiana residents will have to hit the polls to determine the final score of this key match.

As such, Trump’s campaign is already shifting gears – making the anti-politician more palatable to a wider audience ahead of the general election.

The Donald Trump I saw today at his Carmel, IN rally today was a different man from the guy who called Mexicans rapists and said horrible things about women. His bombastic xenophobia and sexism might just be a thing of the past.

It got everyone’s attention at the beginning of the campaign. Now he needs much wider appeal.

Before any introductory speakers took the stage, an announcement over the speakers urged attendees to remain non-violent if protesters should interrupt the event. Remember a few short months back when Trump was egging on attendees to attack protesters?

A minister opened with a prayer for Donald Trump followed by an anecdote about Trump visiting the grieving family of 1990 AIDS victim Ryan White in Indiana to demonstrate the compassion Trump has shown.

Yes, there was still talk of Trump’s famous wall, but it felt more like a crowd-pleaser to touch on as a transition from criticizing Cruz to changing trade relations abroad. Trump talked about Carly Fiorina and her recently announced role as the proposed vice president in Cruz’s campaign.

Remarking on Fiorina’s public tumble, he expressed sympathy whie still managing to put down Cruz: “Carly fell off the stage the other day, and Cruz didn’t do anything! Even I would’ve helped her.”

Trump also criticized Hillary Clinton as an un-intimidating “disaster” of an opponent, but refrained from any cheap knocks about Clinton as a woman.

The general election can expect to see more of Diet Trump — same defiant flavor you love, but half the alienation.