The Clinton Campaign’s Response

Ken AshfordElection 2016Leave a Comment

Let’s be real. Trump was a coward. Every rally he would bake a huge blustery deal about making Mexico pay for his Wall.  But when he got to Mexico, Trump went silent when he actually met face to face with the President. He apparently even to lied about the issue even coming up in their meeting. But it came up according to Mexico’s President, and Trump, according to the Trump campaign, simply didn’t respond.

But man oh man — as soon as Trump was back before a doting alt-right(ish) crowd, he was back to the same swagger and boasting. “They don’t know it yet, but they’re going to pay for it.”

Meaning — Trump is the cliched version of the schoolyard bully who falls apart when he has to follow through on his boasts or breaks down in tears when threatened.

Perhaps Charles Blow of The New York Times said it better:

Donald Trump is the internet troll of presidential politics. When he’s securely removed from the objects of his scorn, he’s tough as nails; when he’s in their presence, he quivers like a bowl of Jell-O.

Such is the way of a bully.

Furthermore, when he is surrounded by supporters who cheer his base nature, he amplifies the enmity. When the applause of hostility is out of earshot, he tones down his vitriol to a whimper.

He is not only a bully, it seems to me, but also something of a coward, who lacks the force of his convictions — or who lacks basic convictions at all. He seems to be simply playing to the audience, whatever that audience may be. He’s amenable to the mood of any particular room.

And that’s what the Clinton campaign needs to say.  That Trump was a coward, weak.  He can only expound his views to a limited (ultra-conservative) base.  That needs to be hammered.  I think that is going to be more effective than the “he’s random” approach.

UPDATE:  Thaaaaat’s my girl!