Blog 4: Debates

Debates usually have a winner and a loser that is portrayed through the media coverage. Donald trump throughout the presidential campaign was closely watched especially when on the debate stage. Donald Trumps debate style was more unconventional comparatively speaking to previous presidential candidates. The speech I chose to analyze was the final debate between democratic candidate Hilary Clinton and republican candidate Donald Trump.

Within this speech Donald Trump was successful in his ability to project short bite sized and persuasive rhetoric. He often times in many debates uses vague and short phrases to excite the audience without really revealing too much substance to his thoughts on the issues. This can be frustrating for some, but for others his ability to distract with his words was mesmerizing. Trump also according to some was successful in his ability to comeback with witty phrases and in some instances bully others by interrupting and speaking over them. I personally do not see this as a success, however when the media depicts who wins or loses these are the moments that gain the most attention. Trump is also very quick on his toes and easily diverts attention away any negative swings others take at him. Not in this debate, but in the primary elections there is one instance where Jeb Bush criticizes Trump’s character and Trump precedes to make the blanket statement that 9/11 was George Bush’s fault (brother to Jeb and 43^rd US president). He seems to have no limits to what he will do or say in a debate. The Trump debates were some of the most watched debates in US history.

Unfortunately Donald Trump did not reflect others in a positive or even humane way. In this specific speech he calls Hilary the infamous phrase of the campaign, a ‘nasty woman’. He has been many times in other debates extremely critical of candidates past and their appearance, which has no bearing on their potential success. He in this specific speech called Hilary’s campaign sleazy, and he spews negativity and tries to turn the tables on his history of disrespecting women as fictional comparatively speaking to Clinton’s narrative of deleting 33,000 emails as not fictional.

As Donald Trump’s campaign advisor I would suggest him to talk more specifically to the issues and his details in his plans. The vague explanations do attract a certain type of demographic, however if he had more substance to his debate style more people would take him seriously as a candidate. I would also urge Trump to spew less hate towards others. I understand that some things in debates come out as a way to slander someone and their character, however it might have been more beneficial for him to remain more civil in these arguments in order to show the American people he is not as ruthless as most people think.

The issues that should have been touched on greater by Trump were women’s rights, taxes, and his plan to fight ISIS. He does touch a lot on his immigration plan, but that plan is so controversial that I don’t think his extensive echoes of building a wall helped him in any way. He has had some issues with respect towards women so I think during the debates would have been a good time to talk about the gender inequities and be sincere to the woman population which controls more than 50% of the US votes. Taxes would have been a good issue to discuss more because people have a lot of expectations from Trump in respect to his background as a businessman. Also ISIS is an issue and a threat to all American people, this is not a party issue but rather a people issue. Foreign policy is always important during campaigns, people want to know how the future leader will protect the nation from terrorist threats.

Trump’s debate performance during this campaign cycle was passionate and fiery, he was aggressive and pounced at any opportunity to criticize others and divert negative attention away from himself and his platform. The media fed off of Trump’s unconventional bullying and it was perceived as a successful tactic in many regards.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/19/the-final-trump-clinton-debate-transcript-annotated/?utm_term=.b26f99f0cdb5#annotations:10671219

Blog 3: Political Speeches

Donald Trump’s victory speech after he won the presidency on November 9^th is his very first moment representing an entire country rather than a political party. He is now the United States leader, and truthfully I was expecting more from a speech with this much gravity. Personally I am not a particular fan of the way Donald Trump carries himself during his speeches. He doesn’t ever move me with his words like many other powerful politicians before him have done, and maybe that is because of his lack of political experience.

In this speech particularly he does a good job of being more structured rather than his off the cusp rhetoric that usually ensues in him putting his foot in his mouth. He has a few points that are somewhat articulately made such as building the economy and the infrastructure. I know this is usually a cliché move in victory speeches, but I think it is admirable when the opponent congratulates the other side for their long fought campaign. It was no secret that both Trump and Clinton were not favorable towards each other during the campaign, but Trump acknowledging Clinton’s efforts and service to the country humanized this hard fought battle and showed that Trump maybe has compassion. I also liked his reference to ‘untapped potential’. There is always room to grow and improve, and Trump calls to do just that within the United Sates. He wants to build upon the successes that those presidents before him have laid while maximizing efforts to create exponential and continuous growth.

Like I have previously stated Trumps speeches don’t do much for me in regards to having a pathos emotional appeal. I think this is in reference to his long awkward pauses, odd tonal inflection, and his less than formal linguistic approach. There is one part in this speech where he is referring to the call he got from Hilary Clinton and he says she congratulated ‘us’ which is in reference to those who voted for him. I thought this statement was poorly placed; he can no longer speak to and group himself exclusively with those that voted for him. I was also turned off by the shout outs he gave to literally everyone on stage. The thanks he gave took away from the message he wanted people to focus on and it took away from the impact the speech had on me as an audience member.

If I were Donald Trump’s campaign advisor I would want him to put more focus on being inclusive towards all Americans. The United States is in a peril state, there are political leaning lines drawn. Trump was such a controversial character all throughout the campaign; he offended many people. This speech needed to have a greater emphasis on the acknowledgement of disdain from the other side and then being empathetic towards people’s worries and reassuring his mission to find equitable solutions for all. We are a stronger nation together than we are apart and I felt like it was his job in that moment to start to repair the divide the 2016 election had created among the American people, unfortunately I feel like he fell short of this daunting goal.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/us/politics/trump-speech-transcript.html?_r=0

Blog 2: 2016 Campaign and Campaign Team

Donald Trump was assumed to have more weaknesses than strengths as a potential presidential candidate, but since his recent success of becoming the president of the United States it seems a reevaluation needs to be considered.

The strengths became clear when he won the election, the American people were intrigued and genuinely interested in an outsider candidate. He was not a politician and with the approval ratings for those in Washington so low it is understandable how his lack of time spent in the political system was deemed as positive. Another strength after further analyzation was his use of social media, he was so off the cusp and most times blatant in his expressions. His social media did not have the greatest connotation, but he was so unlike other candidates that his negative use of social media created more media attention thus putting more attention on him as a candidate and creating more name recognition for him at the polls.

His weaknesses as a candidate were also seen as some of his strengths. Him as an outsider candidate was appealing, but it also called into question whether he was the right candidate for the job. Some people questioned his knowledge of politics and how he would be too reactionary in the intricate political system of interpersonal relationships. Another weakness in his campaign was the scandal involving his as he calls it ‘locker room talk’. His character was slain and tarnished more than it had been previously. He was not known throughout his campaign as an upstanding man, but this incident for many people tipped the scale on his support. His campaign tried to lessen the value of this incident and push the idea that because he was an outsider candidate he has a past like any other human.

An opportunity that was noticed throughout the campaign was the scandal involving Hilary Clinton and her emails. This was apparent in the attack ads that the Trump campaign used to exploit her actions. The attack ads called into question her character and her ability to loyally and lawfully lead a nation.

A threat to the Trump campaign was that Clinton was a woman. The first female presidential candidate took many peoples attention. In many of her speeches there were a lot of phrases and words used to empower women, she expressed the oppressions woman experience and tried to become relatable to the majority of the country because of the female identity she shared.

It should also be emphasized and also made apparent that all of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats could be seen differently depending on who is in the discussion.

The issues I believe Trump showcased were immigration and economic stability. He spoke so much of his campaign about the wall, and you better believe that Mexico is going to pay for it according to him. Immigration regulation is something that is important to the American public and took advantage of that by making it a focal point of his campaign. He also tried to tie in his success as a businessman and give face to him being able to regulate and control the US’s fiscal economy. I believe that the education issue should have been addressed more, that is an issue that affects all Americans whether they have children in the system or they themselves are in the system. This issue is what I see as something that could have given him more legitimacy as a candidate and appealed to more moderate voters.

The key players that gave the Trump campaign the success it had was Kellyanne Conway campaign manager, Daniel Scavino director of social media, and Barry Bennett strategist. These people I feel really aided him in embodying how he wanted the American people to view him. Kellyanne has worked on campaigns for many elected officials in office. Something that has been noticed is that Kellyanne is very good at avoiding the answer to questions and diverting attention away from what the media wants to know which was used to Trump’s advantage. Daniel has worked with Coca-Cola and the Trump organization in previous experiences and Barry has worked on many successful campaigns for US politicians. It can be assumed that Barry and Daniel worked together on many issues. The way you portray yourself on social media is a strategy in itself. These men were most likely, from the perception of how the campaign went, the most utilized positions on the campaign trail. They were integral to the campaign because social media and how Trump handled situations that arose was some of the more appealing factors that gained widespread attention. 

Trumps campaign was unlike any other campaign that was ever seen, and is something that went against the grain of what most campaign guidelines are. Its success was unforeseeable and underestimated.

https://ballotpedia.org/Donald_Trump_presidential_campaign_key_staff_and_advisors,_2016

http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/donald-trump-reveals-stances-on-key-issues-1.12656447

Blog 1: Candidate Biography and Image

Donald Trump, a name that evokes emotion whether it be excitement or frustration; he is a controversial character and one of the more polarizing presidents in the United States history.

He was born in Queens New York in 1946. Trump is a business mogul who has created extreme wealth for his company. He went into business with his father and has attracted many famous and affluent costumers within his real estate business. Trump has been in the public eye for some time, and he is well known for being the host of the reality television show Celebrity Apprentice  He owns many properties around the world and continues to grow his position as an incredibly rich public figure and more recently president.
He stated this key idea all throughout his campaign; he is a businessman not a politician. Trump has no experience as a politician, but he saw that as an advantage all throughout his campaign. His argument and strategy was that people were sick of political elites who got 'nothing' done in Washington. Trump is qualified to be the president according to the criteria stated in the constitution: natural born US citizen, resident of the US for at least 14 years, and at least 35 years of age. The question of if these eligibility requirements make him a good candidate is still arguable. He has been pegged in the media for his not so clean past that has affected public opinion; there are instances where he does not show respect or understanding of different identities people hold

          His lack of political experience was appealing to some, but worrisome for others. He has never assimilated himself within the political sphere. A selling point that the Trump campaign used as the counterargument was the fact that he has grown his business to be as wealthy as it is and that he had connections from his company all over the world, which would make him an asset to the country in helping the economy and being able to have valuable connections for developing greater ties with foreign allies. Trump has positive and negative attributes that will have an effect on how his time in the white house will be.

          Something that is crucial to know about how President Trump conducted his campaign was that he funded it completely. This is extremely unheard of, because of his money he put towards his campaign he was not tied down to the persuasion of the lobbyists. He was completely untethered to any cooperate opinions. His campaign was an interesting journey. There was attention given to him with every move he made whether it was good or bad. Something that many saw appealing or completely infuriating was his inability to sensor or edit the words that left his mouth. His off the cusp rhetoric was new and to many engaging, he had an unpredictability about him that made the media and the public engaged in what he would say next.
        Donald Trumps public image is not the cleanliest of potential presidential candidates, he is perceived by the left winged and some moderate and right winged individuals as a chauvinistic bigot. I don’t think the campaign managers wanted to clean up his edges as a representative of the Republican Party, because from my point of view as a consumer of his politics Trump could not be controlled and his lack of structure aided him and his campaign in many ways. There are of course things that came out in the campaign season that neither candidate wanted to be exploited. I do not believe it was the intention for Trump to be framed in the way that he was with his moral character, but rather it was dealt with in their idea of the best way possible.

          In being more successful Trump needs to be inclusive of all of those who reside in the United States and not to only those who paved his way to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. He needs to uphold greater accountability of his character and promote the ideals this country stands for. He is not the candidate that most people wanted according to the popular vote, but I am forcing myself to be naively optimistic for his future as a leader of this great nation for my benefit as a citizen.

http://www.biography.com/people/donald-trump-9511238#synopsis

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/trumps-best-campaign-strategy-was-to-not-campaign-at-all.html