Donald Trump's New Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway Says Dismal Polling 'Helps,' 'Lights a Fire Under Us'

Donald Trump's new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway on Thursday sought to cast the Republican nominee's bad polling numbers in a more positive light, suggesting that it might be a good thing to be trailing Hillary Clinton in nearly every survey in recent weeks.

"I think it helps us to be a little bit behind, and we are," Conway said on CNN Thursday morning. "It lights a fire under us and reminds us what we need to do to get this done."

Conway said that "several things" still need to be done to put the New York businessman on track, but noted that Clinton's "fundamentals are still poor," listing a series items of where the campaign sees the Democratic nominee as weak.

"It's not as if a majority of Americans now say I like her or I much trust her. She has a terrible gender gap among men, basically half of the electorate, that has not been able to be turn around. And I don't know she has many places to go. In other words, she's a very defined individual," Conway continued. "And for whatever reason, because she's certainly surrounded by many talented professionals and smart people, for whatever reason, they're running a campaign about Donald Trump and not about Hillary Clinton's vision."

Conway claimed Clinton has made her campaign about Trump and does not have an "uplifting, generational, inspirational message much like Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and JFK."

Ultimately, she said, that will run in the favor of Trump.

"And so we like our odds in this sense: We're the ones giving these policy speeches. We're talking to the press and not ignoring them," she said.

Conway said that the campaign will be looking to appeal to the middle class and women who are security-minded.

"We're also — if you look at his economic speech last week, helps the middle class. He's pro-entrepreneurship. And for women, also, we talk to a lot of 'security moms' and 'security non-moms,'" Conway said.

Conway acknowledged the loss of support from Republicans, but said it is a temporary problem, saying, "They're basically saying, I don't like the way the last couple weeks went, and I want you to get back to fighting Hillary Clinton."

Conway's response was far more measured than Trump aide Michael Cohen, who seemed to ignore the Republican nominee's dropping support.

In recent national polling, Clinton leads head-to-head match-ups against Trump, with the Democrat holding 47.2 percent support compared to 41.2 percent for the New York businessman, according to averages compiled by RealClear Politics.

Conway was announced yesterday, along with Breitbart's Stephen Bannon, as new members of the Trump campaign's top management. As campaign manager, Conway, a pollster, is expected to help Trump regain his polling numbers that have suffered since mid-July. Trump has blamed that slump on others trying to make him appear more presidential.

"I am who I am," Trump said on Tuesday. "It's me. I don’t want to change. Everyone talks about, 'Oh, well you’re going to pivot.' I don’t want to pivot. I mean, you have to be you. If you start pivoting, you’re not being honest with people."

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