Trump Campaign In Illinois Takes Shape

Dave Dahl -- Illinois Radio Network

Donald Trump is still hanging around the presidential race, long after he got bored and gave up in previous campaigns.

“He's kind of surprised himself. He entered the campaign bombastically, and did what he usually does, but if you watch, recently, they are becoming much more conventional in the sense that they are doing more white papers,” says Thom Serafin, a Chicago-based political watcher, publicity man, and former journalist. “They're beginning to speak more substantively about the race – strategically.”

Trump's campaign has hired Kent Gray as Illinois director, but the campaign would not make Gray or any other campaign personnel available. Serafin says that can be attributed to the perceived need to have the candidate as a single voice.

Another factor: since around the time Bill Clinton blew into a saxophone on late-night television, candidates have brought their messages to the voters more directly than they could through the “news.”