When Someone Shows You Who They Are, Believe Them the First Time

Maya Angelou said this, warned this we should say now regarding Trump.

Yet there is a real danger that the media buys this fake 'pivot' towards an allegedly kinder, gentler immigration policy.

"I'm sick with worry that media talking heads, in their fetish for making this a horse race, are doing real damage."

https://twitter.com/spikybluealien/status/768832181863084033

But just because he said the word 'softening' doesn't mean his position has changed.

Matt Yglesias:

"As far as I know, this is still Trump’s position on immigration: 

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/768818698316574720

By the way, this is what the Trump campaign is saying. That Trump has changed a few words, full stop.

"He isn't changing his position, he's changing the words he's using" Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson on Trump changing immigration stance."

https://twitter.com/KatiePavlich/status/768798668715466752

Greg Sargent put together this good primer to the media to warn them to actually hold Trump to his positions. It's sad the media needs to be reminded of this.

https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/768792150519738368

Mark Murray at NBC RTed it so that's a good sign at least.

Sargent:

"Why won't anyone interviewing Trump advisers ask: "Would he back changing law so undocumented can get legal status without leaving first?"

https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/768820773192605696

That's the key. Trump hasn't changed his position-as he, Katrina Pierson, and Kellyann Conway keep insisting.

The idea that the media would actually allow Trump to get away with 'changing his mind' after 14 months of mass deportations is in itself a sorry commentary.

Josh Marshall:

1: Most pundits will say this changes everything. Most pundits are dumb. It just makes it stupider. Non supporters now embrace? Not likely."

https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/768604378659946496

Well it definitely doesn't help Trump with POC. As for Blacks if it were possible to fall beneath 0% it would after this talk of 'What do you have to lose?'

But the target is not Blacks and Hispanics but white people who don't want to vote for a racist.

2: This doesn't make him look more moderate. It makes the whole thing seem more bizarre."

https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/768604504979832832

Marshall wrote a post about this:

"Lots of pundits will now say that Trump has upended the playing board. They will say this changes everything. That's not smart. It doesn't change anything. It just makes it all more stupid."

"Are non-Trump-supporters now more likely to embrace his candidacy? Not likely. This doesn't make him seem more moderate. It makes him seem more erratic and now desperate."

'You had doubts about me. But now I've jettisoned the centerpiece of my campaign. So hopefully that gives you confidence that I'm solid presidential material!'

"That makes no sense."

"This is more like Trump's grotesque and disastrous response to the massacre earlier this summer in Orlando. Republicans can usually mobilize national security as a cudgel. But it doesn't work when the Republican faces severe doubts about their mental fitness for the presidency. People want to be reassured in moments of danger and look for a president who can do that. They're not looking for someone who scares them more than reassures."

"This latest stunt has a comparable effect. We are less than three months before the election. And it's not even clear what platform Trump is running on. Is he a white nationalist or a compassionate conservative? Will he keep ranting at African-Americans and Hispanics tomorrow about how stupid they are for not voting for him? Or will he lead the crowd with a chant of 'Si Se Puede!'? Really who knows? It depends on who the last person it was he talked to, the feel of the crowd at the given moment."

"The biggest liability Trump faces across the electorate is that he seems too mentally unstable to be president. He comes off as a charlatan. It is true that certain segments of the white community of scared off by his too open, too vehement racism. But with this latest twist he's done little to convince anyone that he's less racist or more moderate. He's mainly confused people. On the more driving issues of temperament, values or emotional grounding to be president this bizarre about face (which might about face again next week) just confirms the worst impression of the man."

"I've heard a number of people say they don't believe any change of position or policy betrayal will shake his supporters. By and large I think that's right. The connection is emotive and thematic, not tied to any specific policy. But Trump's supporters in that sense of the word don't make up enough of the electorate to avoid a historic blowout. Even for them, some sense of being his mark rather than having him as their avenger can't help but blunt some of their enthusiasm. In any case, for the voters Trump needs it won't work."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/don-t-be-fooled

As Greg Sargent chronicles, Hillary's Alt Right speech today is about removing any illusions about who Trump is regardless of talk of 'having regrets' and 'softening.'

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/08/25/today-clinton-will-accuse-trump-of-mainstreaming-hate-and-white-nationalism-heres-why/?utm_term=.26efaed20c2c