ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE 2016: Donald Trump's reset: Can it last?

Donald Trump has indicat­ed that he may be willing to moderate some of his hard­est-line positions on immi­gration

After a campaign reboot that his new campaign manager calls his “best week” to date, Donald Trump could have a shot at reversing weeks of negative headlines and slid­ing poll numbers -- if he can stay out of his own way.

This week, with Demo­crat Hillary Clinton most­ly on the fundraising circuit on the West Coast, Trump will have a chance to show whether his headline-grab­bing speech Thursday was a fluke or the start of a more sustained reset. He will begin to answer a dominant ques­tion heading into the fall: Can the Trump reset last?

The Republican nominee is running out of time to shift the dynamics of the race, and he’ll need to use the spotlight to show he’s able to stay dis­ciplined and on-message -- and end his pattern of veering off-script with self-inflicted controversies that consume time and energy.

His floundering in recent weeks has highlighted the challenging task he faces: capitalizing on the popu­list, anti-trade and anti-im­migration message that fired up his base and buoyed him through the primaries while finding a way to connect with a more moderate gen­eral electorate. He’s strug­gled to fine-tune a pitch that can appeal both to the vot­ers who made him success­ful early on and to undecid­ed voters -- as the awkward maneuvering by his cam­paign this weekend on im­migration showed.

The real estate mogul shook up his campaign last week after a series of distracting feuds, including a tiff with the parents of a decorat­ed, fallen soldier who criti­cized him at the Democratic convention. Gone is former campaign Chairman Paul Manafort, whose ties to pro-Russian leaders in Ukraine are under investigation.

Trump campaign gets a shake-up

In Manafort’s place, Trump named pollster Kellyanne Conway his new campaign manager and brought in Bre­itbart executive Steve Ban­non as the campaign’s chief executive. Trump is also said to be getting advice from ousted Fox News chief Roger Ailes, though the campaign denies he has any formal or informal role.

He will also be getting more close advising from top RNC strategist and spokes­man Sean Spicer, who will be working more out of Trump campaign headquarters, the campaign confirmed Sun­day.

Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Conway called it the “best week ...so far in the Trump campaign,” saying he’s been “authentic” and made a “pivot ... on sub­stance.”

While many pundits sur­mised that Bannon’s move to the campaign would bring a bare-knuckled style that Bre­itbart is known for, Trump made waves in the days af­ter the announcement by expressing regret for some­times saying “the wrong thing” along the way, a rare expression of contrition for the nominee.

He spent the week making a concerted pitch to African-American voters, saying the Democratic Party has be­trayed them and asking, “what the hell do you have to lose” by voting for him.

Trump expresses regret

Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence, also vis­ited flood-ravaged Baton Rouge, Louisiana, help­ing to unload a truck full of supplies the campaign says Trump himself donated. Louisiana Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards on Sun­day said the trip was “help­ful” in calling attention to his state’s plight while defending President Barack Obama’s choice to delay a visit until this week.

“Leaders show up where people in need are, and they hear them, and they help them, and you saw that on full display on Friday,” Con­way said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday.

Clinton has not visited Lou­isiana, saying she spoke with the governor and decided it would be a “distraction” to the community.

Trump also indicated this past week that he may be willing to moderate some of his hardest-line positions on immigration that have been a central theme of his cam­paign.

While Conway said that Trump only stuck to what he has said publicly in a Satur­day meeting with a Hispanic advisory council, she said it is “to be determined” wheth­er he will back away from a deportation force that would round up undocumented immigrants, as Trump had said in the past.

Trump will spend the week criss-crossing the coun­try for rallies, hitting both swing states and reliable red-state strongholds. He will do an evening rally in Ak­ron, Ohio, on Monday. He then goes to Austin, Tex­as, and Jackson, Mississip­pi -- two red states that will give Trump the opportunity to speak before likely enthu­siastic crowds. Friday after­noon, Trump will be in Las Vegas.

Clinton, meanwhile, will be in a heavy fundraising swing through California, holding star-studded events includ­ing at the home of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel.

She’ll also be appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on Monday night.

Demonstrating how close and critical Nevada, with its six electoral votes, is, Clin­ton will have a rally in Reno on Thursday, and VP nomi­nee Tim Kaine will be in Las Vegas for two events.

The schedule largely leaves room for Trump to set the tone of the week. Advisers have long pushed for Trump to focus on attacking Clin­ton, and avoid making un­forced errors. But Trump has insisted he will be himself for better or worse.

“I have always been the same person-remain true to self.The media wants me to change but it would be very dishonest to supporters to do so!” Trump tweeted last week before he overhauled his campaign. “I am who I am,” he added.

Still, the days following those tweets brought his first ad­mission of regret this cam­paign and his efforts to di­rectly appeal to minority voters.

“I think that he is getting into a groove,” RNC Chair­man Reince Priebus said Sunday.

“I think he likes the new style that he has been out on the campaign trail pro­ducing and speaking of. So I think he’s done great. And I think what you’re going to see is these polls will begin to tighten in the next couple of weeks and by Labor Day or thereafter, I think you’re going to be back to an even race if we continue down this path.”

Clinton’s campaign down­played the significance of any apparent reset. In an in­terview with ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, campaign manager Robby Mook criti­cized the hiring of Bannon and repeated the Democrats’ criticism of Breitbart.

“We’re not seeing a pivot,” Mook said. “Donald Trump himself said this was not a pivot. He wants to dou­ble down on letting Donald Trump be Donald Trump, that’s why he’s brought in to run his campaign some­one who wrote -- or ran a so-called news organization, Breitbart News, which has peddled some of the worst conspiracy theories around. They’ve run news, quote un­quote ‘news,’ that’s defended white supremacists, that’s been sexist, racist, the worst of our politics. So, I think we should be very concerned.”

Culled from the CNN.com