Donald Trump attempts to soften his image

Tycoon’s persona mellows as New Hampshire primary begins.

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came to the small town of Plymouth in the New Hampshire mountains and promised to lower prescription drug prices, improve education and help heroin addicts get treatment.

It came a day after he told a Republican debate audience that he did not want to leave poor people “dying in the streets,” and won praise by some pundits for delivering a restrained performance in which he largely avoided skewering his rivals.

It is not as if Trump, notorious for his inflammatory, demolition-derby style, has suddenly gone soft.

At the same event in Plymouth, he reaffirmed his support for reviving the waterboarding of terrorism suspects and, if necessary, doing “much worse.”

He mocked “poor Jeb Bush” and talked about the “stupid people” running the government.

But the past week revealed a mellower Trump who seems less interested in slashing and burning his way to his party’s nomination for the November 8 election and more willing to view his competitors with equanimity.

His campaign has been working to moderate his image, showing another side of the boastful billionaire businessman whose candidacy has alarmed the Republican establishment and been marked by calls for the deportation of illegal immigrants and temporarily banning Muslims from entering the United States.

The effort began in earnest in Iowa, when Trump brought in an evangelical leader as a character witness, used his children as surrogates and stood on stage with his wife, Melania, who has rarely BEEN seen on the campaign trail.

He told how in Iowa he was nervous about the result of the caucuses, where he ended up second to Ted Cruz, the US senator from Texas, in the first of the state-by-state nominating contests.

Ahead of New Hampshire’s pivotal primary today in which Trump leads in opinion polls, he has shared painful personal stories and stopped at diners to shake hands with patrons.

Trump even admitted on CNN on Sunday that Saturday’s debate was “a lot of pressure.”

“He’s much more of an ordinary guy than (voters) would ever expect,” Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., said at a campaign stop in Tipton, New Hampshire.

“He’s a down-to-earth guy.”

New Hampshire voters have rewarded candidates for emotional directness before.

In 1992, they gave Democrat Bill Clinton’s flagging campaign new life when he went on television with his wife, Hillary, and denied having an extramarital affair.

Sixteen years later, they handed Hillary Clinton a much-needed win after she broke down at an event and cried.

The blunt-spoken John McCain won the state’s primary twice.

During his last weekend in Iowa, Trump abandoned his campaign format in which he stands a podium and addresses the crowd in favour of a sit-down with Jerry Falwell Jr., son of the late evangelical activist, in which Trump answered questions with little bombast.

Falwell vouched for Trump’s generosity, telling of a couple who helped Trump after his limousine broke down in rural New York and how he in turn paid off their mortgage.

Donald Trump's wife, Melania, joins him on stage. He says she has been "unbelievable." pic.twitter.com/qzXVFeJAfV

— Jenna Johnson (@Jenna_DC) February 9, 2016