At veterans' event, Trump's biggest gamble

The Donald Trump who appeared onstage at Drake University Thursday night — just two miles from the Republican presidential debate he was boycotting — was a different Donald Trump from the man who stars in rowdy rallies on the campaign trail.The Trump at Drake's Sheslow Auditorium said not a word about the polls that are his ongoing obsession. (Actually, that's not entirely true — he mentioned the polls, but without the sheer numerical intensity he usually displays.)

Trump also shared the stage with others — not just with Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, who came to the event after the GOP undercard debate, but also with John Wayne Walding, a retired Green Beret who lost a leg in Afghanistan, and with Diamond and Silk, a pair of North Carolina sisters who make pro-Trump YouTube videos and bill themselves as "African-American women ... voicing their opinions about media bias, political babble and repetitive political tactics ..."

Finally, Trump didn't call anybody stupid — that is, he dialed back the rhetoric that marks the usual Trump rally performance. In his remarks, Trump focused mostly on veterans and announced that he had, so far, raised $6 million for veterans' causes, mostly from a few big contributions from Trump friends, including $1 million from himself.