I wasn’t sure what to expect when Courier Editor Crystal Cole and I walked into Ladd-Peebles Stadium last Friday afternoon for the Donald Trump political rally.

Really, when it comes to Trump, though – no one ever knows what to expect.

The real estate mogul turned GOP frontrunner has captured the attention of the media and his fellow GOP candidates. He taps into a portion of the electorate that clamors for his continued lack of political correctness and his reliance on grandiose yet not fully formed ideas (like the Great Wall of Trump across the Mexican border).

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 15,000 to 20,000 people showed up that night to hear what “the Donald” had to say – less than the 30,000 to 40,000 Trump and his people had expected.

Included in the crowd was Silverhill’s own Olaf Childress, who handed out copies of his “First Freedom” newspaper, a publication filled with anti-Semitic and racially biased stories – a copy of which was also found in the home of the Boston Marathon bombers.

From our vantage point as members of the media, while Trump might be surging in the polls, his organization has not grown to fit that stature.

Media handlers in his camp were ill prepared for the onslaught of questions, and our media brethren, both national and local, were frustrated by the lack of answers.

A press conference with the candidate that was scheduled before the rally was pushed, we were told, to after the speech and while the media waited, the Donald never came, proceeding to get back on his jet and fly off to his next event.

While his paid staff were dressed to the nines in designer shoes and tailored suits that were not lower Alabama summer friendly, their lack of experience showed, as they were pushy and even tossed Crystal out of the photo line after an issue with her camera forced her to use her cell phone (which actually takes better photos than our company-issued camera). Either they hate new media, or they don’t know what they’re doing, but when the general public is using phone cameras not one foot away, it makes you wonder about their priorities and judgment.

Trump was late to the event, forcing the band hired for the event to play its improvised version of the Van Halen song “Jump” (with lyric replaced as “Trump”) a good seven or eight times – enough to try the patience of even Trump’s most fervent supporters.

Though his plane landed an hour before the event, he was still 20 minutes late taking the stage – begging questions as to handlers’ idea of proper time management.

As his speech continued on, the racous cheers from the crowd heard when he spoke on immigration and “anchor babies” lessened as the hour stretched on and his topics waned to his book “The Art of the Deal” and properties he owned.

Other than his key hot button issues, can he sustain the public’s supprt to win the nomination and the White House? We shall see.

Reading the national coverage of the event Saturday, one article compared Trump to former Alabama Governor George Wallace, which, in my opinion, was a bit of a stretch.

While the two might have seen eye to eye on their controversial racial policies, Wallace was actually an effective governor. He used the power of his office to help the low-income people of Alabama, including blacks, and he eventually repented his racial past after he found the Lord.

He attracted industries and jobs with tax abatements, helped set up the system of trade schools and community colleges, helped reform the mental health care system in the state and, in his final run for office, actually attracted a majority of the black vote because he reached out to that community and tried to help solve its problems.

How Trump will govern, if he can govern, remains to be seen.

Cliff McCollum is managing editor of Gulf Coast Media. He can be reached at cliff@gulfcoastmedia.com.