Trump and Hillary. One is emotionally accessible, the other is not.

Trump is emotionally transparent and accessible.

It helps explain why Trump connects and Hillary does not.

There is a lot of focus on anger as the mood of the electorate.   Trump's core voters are angry.  The warmup act at Trump rallies--currently often a mother of someone killed by a person in the US illegally--voices her grief and anger.   Trump amplifies it and shares it.

He doesn't just disagree with things.  He likes things and dislikes things.

Meanwhile, Trump is sending two messages.   One is that he doubles down against disorder.  He is angry at what he describes as rampant crime.  It brings him to a dangerous topic:  stop and frisk.  He suggested widely expanded stop-and-frisk--later modified to mean just for Chicago-- a policing policy where police stop and detain people on suspicion that they may be up to something, and require the person to be compliant while they are being patted down for weapons or contraband and asked questions to see if the situation allows further investigation or immediate arrest.  It is done in public, on sidewalks or other public spaces, without notice.   People who experience it find it humiliating.   It is done in front of friends, ones children, strangers.  It is allowed because the policeman finds your behavior suspicious in some way, based on subjective opinion.  The officer doesn't need evidence of crime or misbehavior, or even probable cause.  Only a "reasonable suspicion" that they could articulate if required, in hindsight.  This explains "stop and frisk":  Legal Zoom summary  or here  Legal Match summary


I ask my white, educated, comfortable readers to take a moment and consider.   You have parked your car and are walking toward the door of a restaurant to attend a noon Rotary meeting at a downtown hotel, while talking with a client about the price that Zillow put on your neighbor's home.  A policeman approaches you and tells you to stop.   He asks you if you have been drinking or taking drugs.  You say you haven't.  He asks if you know that transvestite prostitutes sometimes frequent this hotel and asks if you have met with them.  You sputter an objection to the question and say you have not.  He looks you over up and down. He directs you to step over to the wall next to the restaurant door, put your hands against the wall and spread your legs.   The policeman pats your torso and arms, pats the breast pocket of your sport jacket, and runs his hands up and down your legs.   He asks if you have been drinking or using medications. You ask him why he is doing this.   He says it looked to him like maybe you were "on something" because you looked unsteady getting out of your car and you were turning your head like maybe you were checking things out, looking for something.  He said you were free to go.

How would you feel about that stop?  Would you find that embarrassing?  Would it make you like and appreciate the hard job of a policeman?  Possibly.  But don't worry.  Prosperous, white, middle aged business people going into Rotary meetings don't need to worry about being stopped, detained, and frisked.  You have been profiled.  That won't happen to many of my readers. You won't look "suspicious".  You are a "citizen", treated with caution and respect by policemen.  Stop and frisk targets people who look different from you.   Other people, people younger and darker skinned than most of my readers.

Trump's meta message is clear:  he likes good people, and cops, and he doesn't like criminals and terrorists, and you know straight out where he stands.

Trump:  Troubled by the Tulsa shooting

Simultaneously, though, Trump is communicating a message of empathy for the point of view of minorities.  He said he was very troubled by the video of the black man shot while his hands were up in Tulsa.  Trump said he appeared to be compliant and doing everything right.   Maybe, he said, the officer choked and maybe there are some people who shouldn't be police officers.   It was a very different Trump, one who could convince people on the fence about his temperament that Trump is, in fact, pretty reasonable.   Click here to watch

Note his tone:  thoughtful.  Concerned.  Troubled.  Careful about judging.  What is consistent is his emotional accessibility.  This talk isn't communicating dry policy, it is communicating what he cares about.   

This two pronged approach may work to strattle a policy divide but more important is Trump revealing emotional nuance and empathy for minorities--a new addition to the mix.   But either way, he communicates emotion: anger and empathy.

I will show a different video clip, one of Hillary Clinton, a clip that has circulated around Facebook for the past 24 hours.   It was shot by Hillary as communication with Nevada union employees.   It shows a bloodless, oddly unappealing Hillary, which was the description of the video as it passed around   One minute video of Hillary  
It is easier to just watch the video than it is to have it explained.   I am pretty sure if you look at the video you will instantly see my point.  You might agree with what she says, but it isn't likable.

The contrast between these two glimpses of the candidates show why policy and politics may simply be irrelevant.   What is relevant is that Trump connects.  Hillary does not.

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Try out the podcast version of this blog by clicking on the link below.  Thad Guyer, an attorney now living in, of all places, Saigon Vietnam comments on polls and the state of the campaign.  I look at things from as close up as I can get.   Together we have some observations to share.  Check it out.

Click Here to go to the Podcast