That one man could have carried on a schedule that people half his age would stagger under while battling a totally hostile media, a dirty tricks Democratic opposition, a fanatic leftist blogosphere and multi-millions of dollars tossed to the Clinton campaign by assorted multi-millionaires is, well, heroic in the classical, Herculean sense.
There were, fortunately others whose contribution made Trump's burden somewhat lighter. Some throughout the entire campaign and some at strategic, vital, key points.
These include the campaign teams especially Manafort, Lewandowski and latterly and brilliantly Conway but those are insiders and not so much the political face of the Trump campaign and deserve a separate article.
The Political Campaign Heroes.
Governor Chris Christie
Governor Christie made a vital, if indirect, contribution to the Trump victory by utterly destroying the nascent campaign of Marco Rubio in the New Hampshire primary. Trump had finished second, vitally in Iowa and history shows that a first place in New Hampshire after such a showing can be the key to propelling the winner to South Carolina and effectively to the nomination which is what happened after Rubio, the last genuine threat to Trump was vanquished.
Christie's direct contribution was his endorsement of Trump. Being seen as a centrist, Establishment figure, the 2012 convention keynote speaker, Christie's endorsement and occasional campaign appearance for Trump added a degree of DC legitimacy to trump's campaign and made the media start to take him more seriously. Christie then took an advisory role and let the full attention be on Trump as it should have been.
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Governor Sarah Palin
Palin played a critical role in Trump's ascendancy. The "Pizza Summit" in New York clearly signaled to her legions of supporters that if she did not run then she saw in trump someone who had the skills, financial capacity and most importantly the policies which she could wholeheartedly back.
When Trump did run her endorsement just before the Iowa caucuses was crucial. Polls showed that Trump's support with evangelicals, lukewarm at best, rocketed after Palin endorsed him. This was enough to propel an alien New York business mogul to a close second place in Iowa the perfect launching pad for New Hampshire.
At that point Palin's work was done. Her supporters knew who to vote for and it was clear that if she took a high profile in the campaign the media would use here as a stick to beat Trump so Palin subsequently embarked ion an amazing subsequent period of self-effacement abnegation which ended in a flurry of last minute campaigning in Ohio and her beloved Michigan, both states which were carried by Trump.
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Senator Jeff Sessions
As with Governor Christie Senator Sessions endorsement of Trump gave him the backing of a long serving and highly respected DC figure. It also signaled to the south, which Trump swept even in the face of an onslaught from Texas senator Cruz, that Trump was their man.
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Newt Gingrich
Gingrich, another pillar of D.C. served as a highly effective television surrogate for Trump in the area of policy whilst his verbal skills were valuable in deflecting and ridiculing the DNC and media's onslaughts. Gingrich did this endlessly and pitch perfectly.
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Rudy Giuliani
Exactly as Gingrich except substitute New York for D.C.
An invaluable, tireless contribution which added gravitas to the Trump campaign.
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Dr.Ben Carson
Dr.Carson's endorsement of Trump (and Trump's visibly respectful interaction with Dr.Carson) signaled to the African American community that Trump had merit. It also was a highly effective blunting of the "racialist' slurs which were aimed at Trump and which dissipated markedly after Dr. Carson took up the spear for Trump
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