There is certainly some fancy footwork going on with these big party platforms :-) But that is how you win US elections - have a popular message that strikes a chord in the hearts of voters, so why would Trump not do this?

In the big picture, the Republicans have managed to reinvent themselves in the period since Obama, and the Democrats have not yet done so. When either are in power, nothing changes for the average person. I can recall the night Obama won his first term in 2008 and came out to meet his supporters on election night. He was disinterested and tired of his slogans, the same rather subtle “you idiots” tone as his speech on gaining the nobel peace prize. These candidates are spending 3 months almost entirely in the company of campaign strategists and probably find the quick-fire exchange of ideas exhilarating. On election night those guys are gone, and the candidates are pretty much left in the company of their own brains.

- Shyaku