Insults and Smears.

Yes, it has come to this. 

Trump is doing political theater.  Americans are watching.

Bill Mahar advises:

"Elizabeth Warren, start calling him 'Broke-ahontas.'"

Bill Mahar

That is very good advice, and she should take it. 

She should credit Bill Mahar when she does it. It would help her to be associated with Mahar and his audience. It gives credit where credit is due, and she doesn't steal jokes. And it makes the point that Trump and comics do insult comedy, while she does presidential leadership, so she observes comics, but isn't one.

It puts the tiniest distance between her and the insults, while doing the insult.  

Perfect positioning.

Perfect for a second reason, too. It acknowledges the Pocahontas insult, which means that she isn't hiding from it anymore. She didn't mention it in either of the two long events I observed in New Hampshire. One hides from things that hurt; one acknowledges things that are true but unimportant. She can laugh about "Pocahontas"--then hit back. Hitting back is what a warrior does, and we are electing a Commander in Chief.

"Broke-ahontas" serves yet another purpose. It laughs at an area where Trump is sensitive. "I'm rich. I'm really rich," he says. It is part of his story, but one in question. The insult "Broke-ahontas" mocks that area of Trump sensitivity. It calls him a fraud. Best of all, it does it by turning Trump's claim of fraudulent origin for Warren back against himself. 

She would rather be Pocahontas than Broke-ahontas. Trump will hate hearing Broke-ahontas.

It is late, but it is not too late. Warren could do this. Broke-ahontas.

I hear repeatedly about Elizabeth Warren that she failed in her first big confrontation with Trump. She let him insult her, call her a fraud, and he embarrassed her. She will always be locked into the public mind as the fraud who Trump humiliated. Therefore, the sooner she leaves the race, the better for Democrats, I have heard Democrats say.

Not necessarily.

First impressions matter, but in the story arc of fights there are multiple paths for a hero. One is the quick, strong response. It is best. But there is another, the wounded hero who gets up off the mat. We like Rocky, the boxer. We liked Bill Clinton, "the Comeback Kid."

She has the story of her childhood poverty. The log cabin story. The up-by-her-bootstraps story. She still has a chance to show she knows what to do in a fight. Get up off the mat. Broke-ahontas.

If she will do it.

Meanwhile:

Pete Buttigieg enters the big time, confirmed by a Trump insult. 

Trump, in a phone interview: 

"Alfred E. Neuman cannot become president of the United States."  

Trump was referring to Pete Buttigieg. 

Alfred E. Neuman is a boyish, nerdish character in Mad Magazine, a magazine I cherished and subscribed to in the 1960s as an adolescent. The insult attempts to get at Buttigieg's youth--a boy in a man's world.  

Click: Fox and Friends segment

"What? Me worry?" is the slogan for Alfred E. Newman.

Trump got praised for the insult on Fox and Friends.  "I think it reaches the heart of what people are going to say. Mayor Pete. Nice kid. Smart. Just not there yet. Not ready to stare down China."

One of the Fox hosts, continued, saying it was "smart politics. Define your opponent."

But more response came from the other direction. Buttigieg is enjoying a media glow of support. 

My own view is that Buttigieg handled this deftly. He was objectively serene and he turned focus back onto Trump: old, and the childish one. The mainstream media immediately defined Buttigieg as the winner in the encounter. Buttigieg was unflappable and hit back.

Buttigieg's response:

"I'll be honest. I had to Google that. I guess it's a generational thing. I didn't get the reference. It's kind of funny, I guess, but he's also the president of the United States. I'm surprised he's not spending more time trying to salvage this China deal."

He looks utterly un-ruffled. Watch:

Click: response in real time

Buttigieg's response confirms the meme that is circulating--that he has extraordinary sell possession and emotional maturity--particularly when matched up against Trump. Buttigieg is the grown up; Trump the childish one.

Emotional maturity is unlikely to be the most important factor with voters, however. I expect voters to want to see evidence of policy expertise.

Campaigns are works in progress. Both Warren and Buttigieg have an opportunity to fill in the missing pieces of their electoral portfolio.  Warren can show she can fight with Trump and come out ahead. Buttigieg can show he knows how to govern a country.