[Hoot Gibson]

The one thing that could hurt Trump heavily is how much he has divided the party. After all the insults from Trump and his supporters, now everyone else is expected to swing over and follow them. I just don't see him being able to pull supporters over. It's just not the type of person he is. Trump's strengths are that he is good at punching away and taking a stand - the problem is, he is bad to go too far with it sometimes and he has done so to the point where he has damaged relationships in the party with people who would have been key allies.

I see him pulling a few disgruntled Republicans over though, at least just enough to where he can beat Clinton. The fraud cases, I don't see being too much of a factor. They will likely be settled.

Hillary will certainly go to deep lengths to tear into him though. My guess is she is going to go further than using people who have worked for Trump - you may have mentioned this before, but I could very well see her using a disabled person or even a veteran that worked for one of Trump's companies, and - even though Trump wouldn't know of the scenario - they would bash Trump because of how they were treated.

Most voters do not think highly of either candidate - but considering they have the choice of one or the other, more will probably go toward Trump.

There are many small businesses that have been taken advantage of Trump over the years. Whether the fraud suits are settled or not won't make much difference. There will still be victims prepared to go on record to describe how Trump University defrauded them. They will show up in Hillary ads and they will be coached to appear as sympathetic as possible.

Don't forget the treasure trove of Trump videos from the primaries. How hard will it be to portray Trump as a conspiracy nut who believes everything that he reads in the National Enquirer? Suggesting that a political opponent's father may have been involved in the JFK assassination sounds pretty nuts no matter how you roll the tape.

The campaign ads from the Hillary campaign during the last month of the campaign are going to be brutal. I don't know how Trump will weather that storm.

I know that you did not suggest Cruz as a potential VP, but a few thoughts occurred to me as I visualized the kind of negative ads that Hillary and her Super PACs will be running against Trump.

Senator Cruz, "Was Donald Trump lying when he called you Lyin' Ted with every other breath, or did you earn that nickname?"

Senator, "Has Donald Trump apologized to your father for implying that he may have been part of the plot to kill JFK?"

Senator, "As a Hispanic American, how did you feel when Mr. Trump repeatedly referred to an American citizen presiding over a fraud suit against him as a Mexican?"

Even if Cruz were open to being Trump's VP, Trump has already disqualified him for the position. Cruz would be a liability to Trump because he is an honest man and answering questions about Trump honestly would not help Trump's chances at all.