Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a press conference in Washington, D.C., on March 21. His campaign, plagued by poor showings in caucuses and state party conventions, mistakenly asked Washington state supporters to sign up to be state party convention delegates after a deadline had already passed -- and making matters worse, it appears they sent it to Republicans in Washington, D.C., by mistake. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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WASHINGTON, April 9 (UPI) -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is bungling outreach to Washington state supporters, confusing internal email lists with those for Washington, D.C., and sending solicitations days after a deadline expired.
The incidents, reported by Politico and pointed out on Twitter by a former aide to Jeb Bush, underscore what is an emerging trend for Trump -- a lack of campaign organization, which is providing openings for his GOP rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Trump has faltered badly in two states that decide their convention delegations similar to the GOP in Washington, by a party convention rather than a statewide vote.
Cruz appears to have won decisive delegate advantages in North Dakota and Colorado, two other party convention states. And while Washington is only beginning its process of votes to narrow the delegate field, an embarrassing email from team Trump shows the candidate is already behind.
The campaign sent out a mass email meant for supporters in Washington state on Friday, encouraging them to sign up to be Trump-aligned delegates at their county GOP conventions. The email states the deadline to register is April 6, two days before the email went out.
To make matters worse, that deadline wasn't even entirely accurate. The party requires would-be delegates to register with their county parties three days prior to their county conventions, but those conventions are not held on a uniform date across the state, so technically there is no single deadline. But for the round of county conventions being held Saturday, the Trump email still came a day late.
If there's some good news for the Trump campaign, it's that very few of their supporters in Washington state look to have received the confusing email -- because it appears to have been sent to Republicans in the District of Columbia by mistake.
Tim Miller, the former communications director for ex-GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush, pointed out the gaffe Friday on Twitter.
"Team Trump's crack whip team is sending emails to their Washington D.C. list asking people to be delegates in Washington state," Miller tweeted.
It was only after that he realized the deadline mistake in the original email.
