The Trump campaign says it's suppressing Democratic votes. Meanwhile Trump suppresses his own.

Since this is the Trump campaign, just as they were trying to make themselves seem clever, they made themselves look stupid

Donald Trump continues to stand in his own way.
(Image credit: AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

This is the age of big data and microtargeting, and Donald Trump and his campaign want people to know that they're using cutting-edge tools to make this election a lot more competitive than the dishonest rigged media would have you know. Or at least that's the conclusion you can draw when you suddenly see behind-the-scenes articles on Trump's data operation appearing in major news outlets, reported with access granted by the campaign.

There's a problem, though: These marketing whizzes may not be quite as sophisticated as they look, and they still have to sell a product that most Americans don't want to buy. Even worse, they're being continually undermined by Trump himself.

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.