Let's compare and contrast, shall we?
Yes, Clinton felt your pain, there's no question - genuine or not - it was something that really resonated with voters. In subsequent years we came to realize he's a weasel, a cad, and rather lawyerly.
I didn't inhale, it depends on what your definition of is is, felatio is not sexual relations, et al. Guileful delosury is no way to go through life and it def won't play in Peoria.
No doubt Obama displayed a similar ability to emote. Compassion and empathy are thought of as authentic and genuine expressions which are not easily faked. To the younger generations, particularly millennials, nothing matters more than authenticity. What exactly was Obama trying to convey, where was the connection with the intended audience? It was a call to higher ideals, classic symbolism of what makes our country great. Inalienable rights, endearing moments that touch a chord, judeo-christian work ethic, the grave responsibility of exceptionalism, beliefs which define who we are as a collective.
Let's set that alongside Mr. Trump.
Down the escalator turned out to be an apt metaphor for the journey he has taken us on.
"And, I can tell, some of the candidates, they went in. They didn’t know the air-conditioner didn’t work. They sweated like dogs.
They didn’t know the room was too big, because they didn’t have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS? I don’t think it’s gonna happen.
Our country is in serious trouble. We don’t have victories anymore. We used to have victories, but we don’t have them. When was the last time anybody saw us beating, let’s say, China in a trade deal? They kill us. I beat China all the time. All the time.
When did we beat Japan at anything? They send their cars over by the millions, and what do we do? When was the last time you saw a Chevrolet in Tokyo? It doesn’t exist, folks. They beat us all the time.
Thank you. It’s true, and these are the best and the finest. When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.
But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we’re getting. And it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They’re sending us not the right people."
As Bush 43 correctly called it, then we got more of this
weird stuff on Day One:
"At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction -- that a nation exists to serve its citizens. Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families and good jobs for themselves.
These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public. But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists. Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities, rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation, an education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge. And the crime, and the gangs, and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.
For many decades, we've enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry, subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military.
And spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while America's infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay."
ASIDE: How many times did we have infrastructure week in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Still no meaningful legislation to address this.
More recently, the
first speech of the RNC, which set the tone:
"TRUMP IS THE BODYGUARD OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION. TRUMP WAS ELECTED TO PROTECT OUR FAMILIES FROM THE VENGEFUL MOB THAT SEEKS TO DESTROY OUR WAY OF LIFE, OUR NEIGHBORHOODS, SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, AND VALUES. PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS ELECTED TO DEFEND THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE. THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE MEANS YOU FOLLOW THE LAW. YOU WORK HARD. YOU HONOR GOD. YOU RAISE YOUR KIDS WITH STRONG VALUES. AND YOU WORK TO CREATE A CIVIL SOCIETY. THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE MEANS YOU SPEAK YOUR MIND WITHOUT RETRIBUTION. WITHOUT BEING KICKED OFF SOCIAL MEDIA BY A SELF-RIGHTEOUS CENSOR IN SILICON VALLEY. IT MEANS YOU CAN FREELY PRACTICE YOUR RELIGION AND THAT CHURCH IS MORE ESSENTIAL THAN A CASINO. IT MEANS THAT WE JUDGE PEOPLE ON THEIR ACTIONS NOT ON THEIR IMMUTABLE CHARACTERISTICS. THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE IS BEING DISMANTLED BY -- DISMANTLED BY A GROUP OF DECEITFUL, BITTER, VENGEFUL ACTIVISTS WHO HAVE NEVER BUILT ANYTHING IN THEIR LIVES. THEY HAVE US LOCKING UP PASS TORS WHILE RELEASING VIOLENT CRIMINALS FROM PRISON. WE ARE KIBBLINGING DOCTORS OFF SOCIAL MEDIA YET PROMOTING CHINESE STATE FUNDED PROPAGANDA ON MAJOR TECH PLATFORMS. THIS ELECTION IS THE MOST CRITICAL SINCE 1860 WHEN A MAN NAMED LINCOLN WAS ELECTED TO PRESERVE THE UNION FROM DISINTEGRATION. THIS ELECTION IS NOT JUST THE MOST IMPORTANT OF OUR LIFETIME, IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SINCE THE PRESERVATION OF THE REPUBLIC IN 1865. BY RE-ELECTING TRUMP WE WILL ENSURE THAT OUR KIDS ARE RAISED TO LOVE OUR COUNTRY AND RESPECT ITS FOUNDING FATHERS. NOT TAUGHT TO HATE OR BE ASHAMED OF THEM. WE WILL BUILD MONUMENTS TO HEROES NOT BURN DOWN OUR CITIES."
Like Obama, there is a consistent approach to appeal to raw emotion. But which emotions? "The Better Nature of Our Angels," as Lincoln called it in his Second Inaugural Address? American ideals which have framed our purpose? Trump's announcement signaled he would lead the party into a brand of nativism unseen within mainstream politics since the 1850s No Nothing movement. His first speech as PotUS presented a bleak, post-apocalyptic America on it's dying legs. Never before (at least since Andy Johnson's rambling drunken diatribe) had American's leader painted such a dark picture of the country. Trump foreshadowed his authoritarian inclination at the previous summer's convention - "I am your voice. I alone can fix it." - and struck an ominous tone on the steps of the capital: "At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America”, rebuking the tradition of pluralism and patriotic dissent that has been a defining characteristic of American democracy. He and his partisan supporters have shown little interest in ever trying to unify the country or push for broad appeal. Their America which they wish to protect is for their suburban way of life, they appeal to fear of gangs and violence and unrest, hoards of immigrants caravaning through Central America and Mexico to come and destroy our way of life. They elicit visceral hatred.
I could go on, but there could not be a more stark contrast. Ideals and lofty aspirations vs anxiety and trepidation. Ideas versus negativity. Freedom versus preservation.
48 days until the most important election of our lifetime.
We have a lot of data points for WI and MN, while quality PA polling has been a bit sparse.
![[scooter]](/data/avatars/m/22/22287.jpg?1659477690){kind=avatar}
