The power of slogans for good and evil (updated with comments on Charlottesville)

A version of this appeared in the Aug. 16, 2017 editions of the Sky Hi News

In political marketing successful slogans can determine the winner.  Donald Trump’s win was largely due to  a visceral and effective use of a slogan, "Make America Great Again". The most effective slogans inspire people,  and give them hope. They can also resonate with their worst fears and prejudices as the racist demonstrators in Charlottesville, VA illustrated last Saturday.

The slogan the Democratic Party has crafted recently, “A Better Deal” , did not exactly touch my heart.  Something that is  just relatively better is not a very inspiring goal. One that might be a positive umbrella with wide appeal could be something like  " for an America, a land of opportunity" . It promotes Democratic platforms of inclusion, supporting the integrity of democratic institutions and voter rights, a rational immigration policy, and helpful to daily  lives of more people from student loan relief and low cost trade schools, raising the minimum age,  and affordable access to health care.

Slogans can also be deceptive and difficult to fulfill. Donald Trump's slogan " Make America Great Again" was  vague enough that voters could imagine   their own  hopes and fears fitting under the  slogan’s umbrella, unless it was more exactly defined. It had an inspirational , nationalistic ring . Fact checkers found he  often lied about statistics and examples he cited to support his slogans and he offered few concrete "how and what" plan details to reach those goals. Trumps's attacks on Clinton's character and hard line immigration policies  fell under the  larger Make America  Great Again banner with the operative word "again" , a time past which meant to many before women's lib and the civil rights movement. There are in-depth post election studies  that showed  racism and sexism motivated a significant number of Trump voters in the  2016 election.

Trump's economic message was a promise he would make America great again by putting American interests first by going it alone without the burden of multinational agreements and reducing regulatory and tax burdens on business and individuals. We would return again to a nation of manufacturing instead of importing from countries to which we had exported our jobs . His  economic message went  virtually unchallenged  by Clinton, a fatal error, and her slogan, "Stronger together" never quite caught on. Her message strategy was not about togetherness for all. Instead, she appealed to certain demographic segments.

Trump’s sub slogans appealed to white supremacists and he has done little to criticize their use/misuse. Throughout the 2016 campaign and in Charlottesville, VA this past weekend, instead of calling out the KKK, alt-right, and neo Nazis, he condemned bigotry "on many sides". This was a glaring example of his continued reluctance in the campaign to say anything specific that would lose racists' support. White supremacists used another Trump slogan, "Take America Back", to rally their demonstrators and some wore Trump buttons. Democrats, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and some other GOP senators strongly and quickly called Trump out for not condemning the supremacists as evil doers. The next morning, an unattributed White House statement did "include" as bigots supremacist organizations by name. The following Monday, the President himself called racism evil and called out the KKK, neo Nazis, and white supremacists by name, to his credit.

Hate slogans provoke hate and threats of violence are met with threats and acts of violence. The only way out of such a vicious circle is for moral, religious and political leaders to point a different way. In the midst of the violence in Charlottesville there was another image, of a line of robed clergy singing of love and peace in spite of the KKK and Nazis intimidating them with tiki torch marches and Nazi slogans the night before.

A contrast with Donald Trump's initial message was Ronald Reagan's winning and  inspiring 1980 election eve address: " These visitors to that city on the Potomac do not come as white or black, red or yellow; they are not Jews or Christians; conservatives or liberals; or Democrats or Republicans. They are Americans awed by what has gone before, proud of what for them is still…a shining city on a hill....."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/04/17/racism-motivated-trump-voters-more-than-authoritarianism-or-income-inequality

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/14/trump-denounces-white-nationalists-after-violence/

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/far-right-groups-blaze-into-national-view-in-charlottesville.html

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/cory-gardner-calls-out-trump-we-must-call-evil-by-its-name/article/2631371

https://coloradopolitics.com/republican-sen-cory-gardner-demands-trump-lay-blame-white-nationalists-hatred/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/13/leading-republicans-call-on-president-trump-to-den/?utm_source=onesignal&utm_campaign=pushnotify&utm_medium=push

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/12/us/charlottesville-unite-the-right-rally/index.html

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2017/06/new_research_on_role_of_sexism_in_2016_election.html

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jul/28/fareed-zakaria-america-becoming-irrelevant-under-t

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_geoffrey_skelley/just_how_many_obama_2012_trump_2016_voters_were_there

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jul/28/fareed-zakaria-america-becoming-irrelevant-under-t

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_geoffrey_skelley/just_how_many_obama_2012_trump_2016_voters_were_there

http://theweek.com/speedreads/716802/trump-losing-base-democrats-have-lost-white-working-class-internal-polling-shows

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-congressional-map-is-historically-biased-toward-the-gop/

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/08/gop-could-still-win-midterms-in-2018-despite-low-approval-for-trump.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/democrats-try-co-opt-populist-rage-hilarity-ensues-090005021.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fights-in-advance-of-saturday-protest-in-charlottesville/2017/08/12

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/democrats-continue-line-behind-bernie-sanders-health-care-232205359--abc-news-topstories.html

Trump v Clinton: who is a bigot? Their supporters,the candidates themselves? Updated

Hillary Clinton presented a lawyer- like case using Donald Trump's own words that he was reflecting the racist, hateful views of the alt right and that  she charged the alt right was now running his campaign. In advance of her remarks, Trump tried to turn the tables by claiming she was saying  that all of his supporters were racists and that Clinton was the real bigot. Clinton was careful to pin Trump to the racist right, not to his supporters as a whole. She did not use the word "bigot".. Of course Trump's supporters have other reasons to support him, control of supreme court appointments, party loyalty, personal dislike of Clinton, political philosophy, fear of national security, and a desire for change of "a rigged"  political system, and they prioritize those worries ahead of concerns about whether Trump is racist or not.

Trump's attempt to call Hillary Clinton a bigot is in keeping with his  tactic of  accusing her with the same charge that makes himself vulnerable then or in the future. His calling Clinton as crooked was one way to counter charges he is a con man supporting  the practices of Trump University. His painting Clinton as untrustworthy ignores that his poll numbers are even worse in that same category.  His calling Clinton a liar is one way to counter fact checkers documenting that Trump himself is the one who made far more claims that were rated as lies and exaggerations.

 Who is Trump fooling?  If Trump hoped to appeal to minorities  or even moderate, inclusive desiring none  minority people with his bigotry charge based on the failure of Democratic mayors  to solve the problems plaguing urban African Americans, he is likely to get a guffaw from African Americans and others who know better. They know Clinton's forty years of her public life. and the role the GOP has played in stonewalling or proposing  legislation that would  help those in urban areas, attempts  from reducing nutrition support ,and subverting  public education,  and even opposing the mildest gun control  legislation.   They also know that there has been a concerted effort by the GOP to make it harder  and more inconvenient for minorities to vote or about  abusive police practices,  issues ignored by Trump.. 

Trump's attempt to paint Hillary with the sins of her husband may also realize that many of those in the African American community consider Bill Clinton the "first African American president" because of his closeness to the Black community. In contrast, Trump was the most vocal  American voice in trying to de-legitimize President Obama's citizenship with his claim Obama was born in Kenya. His propensity to attribute all minorities to the actions of a few,  including claiming  a federal judge could  not be objective in a law suit against him  because he was Mexican, was not gone unnoticed by Hispanics.  Neither unnoticed  has  been Trump's his continued  and most recent support of expelling all undocumented. (prioritizing the first to go as the bad guy criminal law breakers and  implying eventually expelling  all  "good" people , too,  depriving them of any sort of legal status or citizenship).

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/transcript-hillary-clinton-alt-right-reno-227419

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/27/business/media/breitbart-news-presidential-race.html?emc=edit_th_20160827&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=33304952&_r=0

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/lists/people/comparing-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-truth-o-met/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/alt-beginners-guide-000000002.html
hhttp://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/08/25/5-facts-about-trump-supporters-views-of-immigration/

http://www.salon.com/2016/07/06/the_disturbing_data_on_republicans_and_racism_trump_backers_are_the_most_bigoted_within_the_gop/

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/donald-trump-and-the-politics-of-fear/498116/

Trump v Clinton: who is a bigot? Their supporters,the candidates themselves? Updated

Hillary Clinton presented a lawyer- like case using Donald Trump's own words that he was reflecting the racist, hateful views of the alt right and that  she charged the alt right was now running his campaign. In advance of her remarks, Trump tried to turn the tables by claiming she was saying  that all of his supporters were racists and that Clinton was the real bigot. Clinton was careful to pin Trump to the racist right, not to his supporters as a whole. Of course Trump's supporters have other reasons to support him, control of supreme court appointments, party loyalty, personal dislike of Clinton, political philosophy, fear of national security, and a desire for change of "a rigged"  political system, and they prioritize those worries ahead of concerns about whether Trump is racist or not.

Trump's attempt to call Hillary Clinton a bigot is in keeping with his  tactic of  accusing her with the same charge that makes himself vulnerable then or in the future. His calling Clinton as crooked was one way to counter charges he is a con man supporting  the practices of Trump University. His painting Clinton as untrustworthy ignores that his poll numbers are even worse in that same category.  His calling Clinton a liar is one way to counter fact checkers documenting that Trump himself is the one who made far more claims that were rated as lies and exaggerations.

 Clinton did not use the word "bigot" in her speech but  connected Trump  to racism using his  own words , praise from the his white supremacist supporters,  and his  campaign manager's association with the alt right web site, Breitbart, that promoted conspiracy theories and racist, sexist,  comments. That is not  Clinton's using that particular B word, but instead she provided the definition and showed how he fit into it. 

 Who is Trump fooling?  If Trump hoped to appeal to minorities  or even moderate, inclusive desiring none  minority people with his bigotry charge based on the failure of Democratic mayors  to solve the problems plaguing urban African Americans, he is likely to get a guffaw from African Americans and others who know better. They know Clinton's forty years of her public life. and the role the GOP has played in stonewalling or proposing  legislation that would  help those in urban areas, attempts  from reducing nutrition support ,and subverting  public education,  and even opposing the mildest gun control  legislation.   They also know that there has been a concerted effort by the GOP to make it harder  and more inconvenient for minorities to vote or about  abusive police practices,  issues ignored by Trump.. 

Trump's attempt to paint Hillary with the sins of her husband may also realize that many of those in the African American community consider Bill Clinton the "first African American president" because of his closeness to the Black community. In contrast, Trump was the most vocal  American voice in trying to de-legitimize President Obama's citizenship with his claim Obama was born in Kenya. His propensity to attribute all minorities to the actions of a few,  including claiming  a federal judge could  not be objective in a law suit against him  because he was Mexican, was not gone unnoticed by Hispanics.  Neither unnoticed  has  been Trump's his continued  and most recent support of expelling all undocumented. (prioritizing the first to go as the bad guy criminal law breakers and  implying eventually expelling  all  "good" people , too,  depriving them of any sort of legal status or citizenship).

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/transcript-hillary-clinton-alt-right-reno-227419

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/27/business/media/breitbart-news-presidential-race.html?emc=edit_th_20160827&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=33304952&_r=0

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/lists/people/comparing-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-truth-o-met/

http://www.salon.com/2016/07/06/the_disturbing_data_on_republicans_and_racism_trump_backers_are_the_most_bigoted_within_the_gop/

Trump's newest pivot. Too little too late?

In the news last week  Donald Trump  appeared he is preparing himself for defeat but  in a last ditch effort ,he took on new campaign staff and made an interesting "pivot".   The question now is if his "pivot" is too little too late and his past flame throwing oratory will still come back to haunt him.

With plunging polls, he is beginning to see the writing on the wall so the leopard is changing his spots. He tried a pivot  earlier by sticking to teleprompter remarks, but when away from that discipline at the podium,  he had doubled down on  insulting key demographic groups. Now he is trying  to make amends by charging Democrats  for failing to lift African Americans up.  He failed to detail how he would help improve their economic standing and a failed to acknowledge their grievances about police brutality, too. He signaled a shift from insulting Hispanics to perhaps softening his immigration policies. Given his past bigoted, racial dog whistle comments and hate filled “build the wall” slogan, his sincerity will be a hard sell. Especially hard sell on his credibility is that the has taken on a campaign manager with close ties to the Alt Right, a movement which has white supremacist ties.

 This past week, Trump  admitted he had made some verbal mistakes and hurt some people.  On the other hand, he applied that admission to individuals only, ignoring he had turned off large blocks of  minorities, women, and the college educated.   The voters may already have come to the conclusion that the real Trump is a bigot who exploits divisiveness to promote himself. Also in question is to what extent his newly appointed advisors will reign him in since those very same  messaging advisors from  Breitbart specialize in conspiracy theories and inflammatory postings.

Before the pivot, he had attacked the press as  biased against him, accounting for sinking polls.   There are still other media outlets that tilt toward Trump that can warm the hearts of his supporters. That is the value of freedom of the press.  Trump’s message is still getting out because his inflammatory , insulting oratory is itself driving much of the coverage. Instead of killing the messengers, he needs to temper his message.

If Trump wants voters  to focus attention instead of  on himself   but on Hillary Clinton's weaknesses with her relationship with the Clinton Foundation, that  approach may have lost its value, only fortifying old news that she is a wheeler dealer that has already  become an acknowledged  perception.  Clinton's already low  personal approval ratings but winning  national  vote polls indicate voters  still prefer her to Trump,  warts and all. Trump's relying on the Foundation connection is like standing on shifting sands. The politically nimble Clinton campaign has already taken steps to assure the public that the Foundation will  not accept foreign donations and that Bill Clinton will resign from the board if she is elected. It may not be enough and she may have to heed the calls to shut down the Foundation
now. That option is still available.

The other excuse  for a potential loss we have heard  from Trump is that there will be voter fraud. He cannot accept  polls in Pennsylvania show he is losing , then fraud is the reason.  Trump must prove voter fraud  is widespread now and post election to make this excuse stick..  That is  a challenge. As Politifact, independent fact checker found true, was that " Roughly 300 people per year are struck by lightning in the United States. But cases of voter fraud -- someone impersonating another voter -- are documented even less often."

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/19/us/politics/if-hillary-clinton-wins-foundation-will-stop-accepting-foreign-donations.html?_r=0

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2016/apr/07/mark-pocan/which-happens-more-people-struck-lightning-or-people

https://www.yahoo.com/news/alt-beginners-guide-000000002.html

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/transcript-hillary-clinton-alt-right-reno-227419