In the primaries, Donald Trump got away with all kinds of outrageous behavior. He said and did things that I thought would sink him over and over. But it is a whole different ballgame now and he better wake up to that fact ASAP.

In the primaries, the mainstream media really didn't care that much about what Trump said when he attacked his opponents - after all, he was attacking other Republicans and the media was happy to see him do so. Plus, they loved the ratings bonanza that came with covering The Donald. Once it turned to Trump versus Clinton, Republican versus Democrat, it became a whole different ballgame. Now, everything he says or does is going to be roundly attacked and condemned and the media as well as the Democrats are going to bait him over and over again - and he keeps walking right into the traps with mouth wide open.

In addition, while Trump's outrageous statements served to just shore up his base who found his political incorrectness refreshing, such statements are not nearly as effective with the Independents and disaffected Democrats he needs to win the election. Just the opposite, such statements are a "huge" turnoff to many voters and the statements play right into the Democrats narrative of Trump being unfit and too intemperate to be President.

Two characteristics are working mightily against Trump changing course. First of all, there is his inability to handle the least bit of criticism. Secondly is his background of being a perfectionist builder who wants to get his projects completely right and universally praised - something that is impossible to do in politics. Combine the two traits and the result is that Trump keeps re-litigating things that would have faded long ago as the news cycle moved on. Instead, he keeps bringing them back up time and again - often blunting momentum and positive news.

It is sad for me to see Trump defeating himself in an election he should win by a landslide because his opponent is so hugely flawed. If he doesn't get a grip, let things go and stay on message, the Democrats won't need all the smears and false-narratives we constantly being bombarded with. Trump will doom his chances all by himself.