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Republicans have been anxious that the Trump campaign has been slow to roll out its ground game
Campaign says it has found 4 million registered voters nationally it believes have a high likelihood of supporting Trump
(CNN) —
As Donald Trump’s convention moment arrives, one overriding concern among Republican delegates from battleground states is the lack of evidence pointing to a campaign ground game capable of competing with Hillary Clinton’s virtual army deployed to target voters.
Their fear: a fall campaign understaffed on the ground and under fire on the air in ways that swing-state Republicans haven’t seen in the modern era.
But Trump’s political team told CNN that it is preparing a major battleground state push in August that will flesh out their skeletal staff and lay the groundwork for sophisticated micro-targeting operation this fall.
While even the Republican National Committee had struggled to get complete staff lists from the Trump operation for much of the last month, the campaign shared a list of 13 battleground state directors and advisers on Monday, including in long shot states like Michigan and Maine.
“We are at the point where we can push the button,” a Trump strategist who spoke on background to discuss internal deliberations. Given the enthusiasm of Trump’s supporters: “It’s like directing a firehose.”
Poll: Advantage Clinton as conventions begin
The team has identified more than 4 million registered voters nationally it believes have a high likelihood of supporting Trump, but are low-propensity – and they are gearing up to target those voters.
Trump’s campaign knows it has a great deal of work to do with married female voters between the ages of 35 to 54, who have concerns about the billionaire’s temperament. It plans to expand its outreach to those voters by moving beyond big rallies, and putting Trump in more intimate settings in coming months like voter town halls where he can address concerns more directly. Trump aides believe that many of those voters – particularly independent women – who have issues with Trump’s temperament line up with his views in other areas like trade, jobs and the economy and education. They are planning a more direct focus on those issues in the upcoming smaller events.
The question, however, given Trump’s late fundraising start and limited cash-on-hand, is whether the Trump campaign will have the resources to create an even playing field with Clinton and make up for the opportunities they lost to build off the excitement of its historic GOP primary campaign.
Up until now the Trump campaign has relied heavily on the RNC not only to lead the charge on identifying and contacting voters, but to head the joint fundraising effort and even help with basic tasks like scheduling and policy briefings – normally under the direct purview of the presidential campaign.
“Every single day, you have so much daylight and you have so many waking hours,” said Scott Jennings, a former George W. Bush hand who ran Mitt Romney’s Ohio operation in 2012. “Obviously all those thing get exacerbated. The staffing levels are less. The paid media levels are less. You wind up with less stuff and people, and it’s hurtful.”
The Trump campaign insists it’s not behind – pointing to the tens of millions of dollars Clinton has spent on advertising only to end up even with him in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.
Photos: The year Donald Trump took politics by storm
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What started out as the summer of Trump soon turned into the autumn of Trump, and as 2015 comes to an end, Donald Trump continues to dominate the Republican field of presidential candidates.
Photos: The year Donald Trump took politics by storm
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An image of Trump is seen on the Las Vegas Strip on December 14. Las Vegas was hosting a CNN presidential debate.
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Trump pretends to sleep December 7 as he references fellow candidate Jeb Bush at a Pearl Harbor Day Rally in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. It was here that Trump read a press release calling for a "complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" in light of the San Bernardino terror attacks.
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A group of Muslim-Americans rally in front of New York's Trump Tower on December 20 to protest Trump's proposal to ban Muslims.
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British newspapers showcase reactions to Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States. An online petition to ban Trump from entering Britain garnered more than 300,000 signatures.
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Time Magazine footage
Trump was in the running for Time magazine's Person of the Year and was not pleased when German Chancellor Angela Merkel was selected instead. Alongside a profile on Trump, the publication published a behind-the-scenes video of a photo shoot from August. The video featured blooper-reel moments with Trump's co-star of the shoot, a bald eagle named Uncle Sam. The eagle ruffles its feathers, startling Trump.
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Trump flips his belt buckle while slamming fellow Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson during a 95-minute tirade on November 12. Trump mocked Carson's story that as a boy, he once tried but failed to stab someone only to have the knife broken by a belt buckle. "So I have a belt: Somebody hits me with a belt, it's going in because the belt moves this way. It moves this way, it moves that way," Trump told the crowd in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
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Trump appears in a parody of Drake's "Hotline Bling" video while hosting "Saturday Night Live" on November 7. The episode brought in an average of 9.3 million viewers -- the show's biggest audience in years.
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Members of Latino organizations march from the Trump Tower to NBC studios in New York to protest Trump's "Saturday Night Live" appearance on November 7.
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A Trump supporter stands across the street from the Latino protest in New York on November 7.
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A man holds a copy of Trump's newest book, "Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again," while he waits to have it signed by Trump outside Trump Tower in New York on November 3.
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Trump invites Colombian-born super fan Myriam Witcher on the stage during a campaign rally in Las Vegas on October 8. "I am Hispanic and I vote for Mr. Trump. We vote for Mr. Trump!" Witcher exclaimed.
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Trump speaks during the campaign rally in Las Vegas on October 8. During the rally, Trump said people were giving him credit for helping force House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to bow out of the race for Speaker of the House.
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Trump is greeted on stage by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a fellow Republican presidential candidate, before speaking at a Washington rally organized by the Tea Party Patriots on September 9.
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Trump asks an audience member to inspect his hair to verify it's real during an event in Greenville, South Carolina, on August 27.
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Trump takes a question from Univision and Fusion anchor Jorge Ramos during a press conference at the Grand River Center in Dubuque, Iowa, on August 25. Earlier, Trump had Ramos removed from the room after the two squabbled over Trump's immigration stance. "Sit down. Sit down. Sit down," Trump said, adding, "Go back to Univision."
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Laci Lamb, 6, declares Trump "awesome" and cheers at a Trump rally in Mobile, Alabama, on August 21. Her mother, Annie, made her outfit. "He's the best candidate we've had in a long time," Annie Lamb said.
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Trump greets fans after the Mobile rally, where more than 30,000 supporters from deep-red Alabama gathered in a football stadium.
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Trump speaks with reporters after arriving at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on August 15. Trump gave children rides on his helicopter.
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Trump eats a pork chop on a stick and gives a thumbs-up sign to fairgoers while campaigning at the Iowa State Fair on August 15.
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Trump fields a question during the first Republican presidential debate, which was held August 6 in Cleveland. Following the debate, Trump launched what would become an ongoing feud with Fox News host and debate moderator Megyn Kelly, tweeting and retweeting attacks against Kelly into the early hours of the morning.
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Trump takes a break from the campaign trail and visits his golf course Turnberry in Ayr, Scotland, with his daughter Ivanka on July 30.
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Trump talks to the media along the U.S.-Mexico border during a trip to Laredo, Texas, on July 23. This is where Trump first premiered his "Make America Great Again" hat.
Photos: The year Donald Trump took politics by storm
Trump gives out U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham's private cell phone number at a rally in Graham's home state of South Carolina on July 22