Friday, May 06, 2016

CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY THAT WE'RE NOT PLAYING ON DONALD TRUMP'S TURF ANYMORE

I'm really not used to being less of an Eeyore about election results than other commentators, but I'm not worried about Hillary Clinton's anti-Trump messaging the way Gawker's Alex Pareene is:



“Dangerous Donald.” Democrats are going with “Dangerous Donald.” Did they try testing “Sexy Donald” first? “Leather Jacket Donald”?

... the first official Clinton campaign statement on Donald Trump the presumptive presidential nominee ... contains most of the hallmarks of Clinton messaging. See, for example, how the Bush-esque “keep our nation safe in a dangerous world” comes before the boilerplate “working families” language. Then comes the first iteration of their main anti-Trump line: “With so much at stake, Donald Trump is simply too big of a risk.”

The problem with that line of argument is that it’s Donald Trump’s argument for his candidacy: Conventional politicians and conventional politics haven’t worked -- so take a gamble on the ultimate outsider. “Donald Trump is simply too big of a risk” is practically daring people to give him a shot. He might pay off!

Since then, Clinton has repeatedly referred to Trump as a “loose cannon” ...

Trump is reckless, unstable, “dangerous.” Clinton is sober and responsible -- a steady hand on the tiller. The safe choice versus the unpredictable renegade who might say or do anything. It’s a good thing Americans aren’t traditionally drawn to unpredictable renegades!

... They’re going to build Trump up as a reckless and virile force of nature -- and a true outsider -- rather than expose him as a pitiful clown and an obvious fraud. This is completely backwards. As any writer who’s ever received an angry personal response from Trump can tell you, you get under his skin by mocking and emasculating him, not by feeding the myth of his power and strength, the precise qualities his authoritarian followers adore.
But maybe we're not on dick-swinging, dominance-challenge-issuing turf anymore. We're not in the world of the East Coast media/government/finance axis, where Pareene and Gawker reside, and we're not in the Republican primaries anymore. So maybe the rules are different.

Plenty of voters don't want danger and risk from their elected officials. I'm guessing that a significant percentage of these people are women -- including the ones who were called "security moms" back in 2004. That year, Democrats were having some difficulties with female voters, and this was regarded as a brilliant ad:



"He's the most powerful man in the world and all he wants to do is make sure I'm safe," says the daughter of a 9/11 victim -- who is seen a few seconds later being hugged by President Bush.

The voters who responded to that ad might be the ones Hillary Clinton is trying to reach. If so, I don't blame her.

I'm reminded of a polling result quoted a few days ago by Digby:
A survey by the Republican analytics firm Evolving Strategies found that anti-Trump messages were far more likely to hit the mark with women than with men. After women viewed one of three ads that questioned Trump’s character, their support for Trump dropped from 52 percent to 44 percent. But the needle didn’t move for men sampled.
If you think the general election is going to be fought on the emotional turf where Trump is most comfortable, then what Clinton is doing looks like a failure. But if you think there are voters who don't respond well to boorish machismo, then she might be on to something.

6 comments:

Jeffery said...

At the frist debate she should turn to Donald and say, "Oh, grow up!"

Victor said...

I don't think that the public wants Hillary to make "Donald has small hands" jokes.
First, it'll remind people of Bill, and his bent schwantz.
And second, making dick jokes ruined whatever was left of Marco Rubio's chances.

He's a buffoon and a liar, and he's hasn't just flip-flopped over issues over the last few decades, he's like the old Mazda rotary engine the went "humm," or a chicken in a rotisserie oven.

Hit him on consistency, or the lack thereof.

And hit him on minority and women's issues.

Unknown said...

You need to hit Donald where his insecurities are. I suggest
"_ickless Donald".

Unknown said...

If you think the general election is going to be fought on the emotional turf where Trump is most comfortable, then what Clinton is doing looks like a failure. But if you think there are voters who don't respond well to boorish machismo, then she might be on to something.

Why would it not be possible BOTH approaches against the Trumpster??

Anonymous said...

I'd prefer:

Dopey Donny

And hashtag:

#DopeyDonny

I think it's catchy and speaks the truth.

And I think Dopey Donny would find it annoying.

Which is important.

Sweet Sue said...

How about "Deranged Donald?"