An official with Donald J. Trump's presidential campaign has confirmed that, yes, Donald J. Trump is coming to Tampa, and, yes, he is rallying at the University of South Florida Sun Dome on Friday.
Donald J. Trump is the gentleman currently leading in all of the polls, and has been for months.
What does the J. stand for?
We may never know.
Anyway, it's been among the toughest of weeks for the brash, billionaire reality show star extraordinaire. Trump came in second place in the GOP's Iowa caucus on Monday. U.S. Senator "from" Texas Ted Cruz came in first, and U.S. Senator from Florida Marco Rubio finished a close third.
And in New Hampshire, he is polling a mere ten points ahead of Rubio, which probably is not something he wants.
So coming to Florida, where he's polling incredibly well despite it being the home state of both Rubio and former governor Jeb Bush, might be a strategic move, we reckon.
Florida's primary is March 15, which is well after Iowa and New Hampshire as well as as Super Tuesday, when a ton of states choose their guy.
And while the first two primary/caucus states are a big deal symbolically and serve as kind of a political weathervane (even if they don't have a ton of delegates to offer), Florida has a crap-ton of delegates to offer, and probably even more symbolism; the state, after all, has picked the person who ends up the nominee more often than not in recent decades, and there's that not-old adage: He (or she) who wins the I-4 corridor wins the presidency.
Or he may just be coming down to work on his tan at the Don Cesar. Who knows?
The thing is, he has been known to fill stadiums up with supporters, with tons more rallying outside.
If comments on social media are any indication, there will probably be protesters, too.
Details of the event have yet to go public.
This article appears in Feb 4-10, 2016.