Well, Pubs, how is your guy working out?

Kimberly Strassel at WSJ sees no sign that Squirrel-Hair intends to change his modus operandi now that the general-election dynamics seem to be upon us:

. . . he’s winging it. He continues to operate on the assumption that he will bask in free airtime forever, that the masses will flock to him come November, that he can tweet his way to the Oval Office. And perhaps, given his primary achievement, he gets the benefit of the doubt.

Save one thing: It isn’t working. Mr. Trump’s past rule-breaking succeeded because of a crowded primary field, in which Mr. Trump was the most entertaining figure, and in which the press didn’t have a stake. It succeeded because a decade of specific frustrations had made conservatives unusually open to his style and message.

That’s all over now. Mr. Trump is in a race against a seasoned politician who commands a machine and is already savaging him daily. The mainstream media are in the tank for her, and their airtime will be devoted to skewering him. Mr. Trump’s supporters remain the minority in a fractured party that he has yet to unify. 

There’s no need to guess whether Mr. Trump’s lack of a campaign is hurting him. It’s proven by two irrefutable weeks of negative press coverage, missed opportunities and eroding poll numbers. 

Campaigns exist to keep the candidate focused and ready to exploit rare opportunities. In recent weeks, Mr. Trump wasted three such golden moments: the report by the State Department’s inspector general on Mrs. Clinton’s email practices; Hillary’s foreign policy speech; and last week’s dismal jobs report.

Mr. Trump could have hammered the Clinton ethical morass and wrapped Barack Obama’s failed foreign and economic policies around Mrs. Clinton’s neck. Instead he confined himself to random tweets, calling the email report “devastating,” the jobs report a “bombshell,” and Hillary’s teleprompter skills unpresidential.

Campaigns exist to stop the candidate from digging himself into a hole, as Mr. Trump has with highly personal attacks on the judiciary. They exist to tee up a regular series of addresses on key issues, much like Mr. Trump did (admirably) on energy policy several weeks ago. (The mogul reportedly will give a major address next week on the Clintons’ “politics of personal enrichment,” which is at least a start.)

Campaigns exist to counter negative advertising. But the blitz that the Clinton camp commenced against Mr. Trump as far back as April has largely gone unanswered. The super PAC backing Mrs. Clinton has spent millions and vowed another $130 million. Her campaign, with an estimated $60 million in hand, had an ad up within days of the judge controversy. The Trump campaign has run one Web ad—weeks ago—about the Clintons, which hit Bill for his sexual past.

Campaigns exist to shore up the party, yet there are renewed rumblings about ditching Mr. Trump at the convention. They exist to work hand in hand with party leaders: The Republican National Committee has invested years and millions preparing for this race, but it can be of little help in the absence of an all-cylinders Trump campaign.

Strasser's observations dovetail significantly with those of Rich Lowry at NRO:

The truth is that Trump is a wedge issue against his own party. Disavowing him means upsetting all those good Republicans who voted for him in the primaries, while supporting him means owning his irresponsible positions and statements. There is no good answer, which is why faith in a Trump “pivot”— to a more disciplined, conventional candidate — runs so deep in the establishment. Sen. Bob Corker, who will be a perfect running mate for Trump if he wants a wing-man uncomfortable with much of what he says, is constantly talking about the pivot. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus applauded Trump’s use of a teleprompter the other night as if the candidate’s wooden reading of the text was some sort of fundamental breakthrough.

This is all misplaced. Donald Trump may have many talents. Not being Donald Trump isn’t one of them. 

2016, the Year of the Tragically Squandered Opportunity.