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The Party Line is dedicated to examining regional issues and policies through the figures who give shape to them. These are critical, complex, and even downright confusing times we live in. There’s a lot to navigate nationally and in the Carolinas; whether it’s elections, debates on gay marriage, public school closings, or tax incentives for economic development. The Party Line’s goal is to offer a provocative, intelligent look at the issues and players behind the action; a view that ultimately offers the necessary insight for Carolina voters to hold public servants more accountable.

Trump Campaign Shows It's Not Ready For Prime Time

With Donald Trump’s newest attempt to ‘reboot’ his presidential campaign, speculation abounds as to whether this latest campaign shake-up, along with the candidate’s mea culpa in Charlotte, will have any profound impact on his poll numbers in the race towards November.

Most modern campaigns are, structured around core components: A candidate who has a compelling message, a campaign infrastructure that is focused, flexible, and deep, and an environment that is understood and worked within, not around.

For Trump, the candidate certainly has developed a compelling message, one that appeals strongly to core base. However, that same message has been prone to significant challenges in making an appeal beyond that dedicated constituency, especially due to the ‘off-the-cuff’ and ‘tell it like it is, whether it is reality or not’ speeches and comments by the candidate himself.

For the campaign infrastructure, the latest revamping of bringing in a CEO and separate campaign manager shows an organization not yet ready for the prime time. Smart campaign planning develops and hones a consistent message, while advancing a core strategy that is readily apparent and fits into the context of the political environment of the day. This strategy revolves around the ideas of what should be done, when should it be done by, who should be doing it, and how to make it happen.

With the third iteration of campaign leadership within just the past six months, Trump’s campaign, while arguing it is nimble and flexible, has shown itself as unstable and inconsistent.

Trump has made it a hallmark of running an ‘unconventional’ campaign, by relying on a late 19th Century campaign approach of generating attention all focused on himself; however, the need to have a sophisticated structure beyond Trump is what is lacking and astonishing at this point. And the constant turnover, in both personnel and direction, should give significant pause to most supporters and Republicans as we head into the final lap of the campaign.

Many times Trump will bolster his ‘business acumen’ and the qualities of his ‘art of dealing’ that has garnered him the attention that he enjoys. But think of any modern business operating as his campaign has: A turnover in corporate leadership, a slew of mixed (and oftentimes offensive) advertising and messaging about the brand, and an unwillingness to make the investments in selling the product in a competitive environment.

How would Wall Street react to such a business operation? While there may be dedicated consumers of the product that Trump is marketing, the broader markets of the electorate is showing their reaction—and the product isn’t likely to create the demand of 270 electoral votes, unless a major retooling happens.

Dr. Michael Bitzer is an associate professor of politics and history at Catawba College, where he also serves as the 2011-2012 Swink Professor for Excellence in Classroom Teaching and the chair of the department of history & politics. A native South Carolinian, he holds graduate degrees in both history and political science from Clemson University and The University of Georgiaââ