Recently, Donald Trump has been seemingly backing away from his former forthright positions opposing illegal aliens. How much of this is campaign waffle and how much is genuine policy reversal is, as yet, unclear.
Much of Trump's appeal has been a result of his opposition to open borders, his defense of and advocacy for the nation's existing lawful citizens (as opposed to the more inclusive "residents"). To the extent to which he backs away from his former uncompromising stance, I believe he begins to look more a "politician" and less a change-inducing outsider.
Will the apparent weakening cause him to lose votes? Perhaps not, he is still more on the side of border enforcement than his binary opponent - Clinton. Will it however cause his base to be less energised, motivated? Probably, and it's clear he needs their energy, their motivation to win.
People have found much to criticize in Trump, I believe what irritates me most is his seeming compulsion to shoot himself in the foot. He lacks message discipline.
The Associated Press compilation of pay-to-play between the Clinton Department of State and Clinton Foundation provided a perfect opportuniity to dump on his opponent. So does he do that? No, he instead weakens his own message. It's infuriating to his well-wishers.
