Trump's Use of Teleprompter Speaks Volumes

When Donald Trump spoke to the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the speech itself was fairly humdrum. But the way Trump delivered it was anything but, writes Joe Klein at Time. That's because the frontrunner, who famously loves to wing it with inflammatory rhetoric, actually used a teleprompter for once. The choice "shows that Trump understands that, on occasion, care must be exercised in his choice of words," writes Klein. And it signals, too, that Trump might be transitioning into more of a mainstream candidate.

Until now, Trump has excelled at stirring up his base—the "white working class"—by borrowing from both the populist left (protectionism) and the populist right (fear of immigrants, especially Muslims), writes Klein. His "dog whistles" have been "pitch-perfect" in that sense. "But the use of the teleprompter will surely be the first of many politically correct adjustments," writes Klein, who suggests that those who oppose the candidate should take notice. "We must prepare ourselves for the subtler dangers of a conventional Donald Trump." Click for the full column. (More Donald Trump 2016 stories.)