Trump Undermines Hillary on Gun Issue
Notice here I do not say Trump counters Hillary with a better argument. Trump does not fight fair. He fights smart.
The gun issue is a difficult one politically because the people who care a great deal about it are on one side--the pro gun people. The anti-gun people care about it generally in the mix of multiple other issues, but the pro gun people are focused and adamant: the gun issue matters a lot, above all else.
Donald Trump spoke to the NRA. He got tepid applause at first but the audience moved to repeated standing ovations when he attacked Hillary.
Trump does not argue the merits. Trump undermines the legitimacy of the opponent. Hillary Clinton has become increasingly outspoken on guns-one issue where she has moved to the "left" of Bernie Sanders--or at least one issue where she can show that Bernie has been guilty of the sin of compromise with political reality, a reversal of the critique that Bernie makes of her generally. And Hillary claims women as her natural support.
The issue should work for Hillary. Gun control and women are two issues that work together well. Gun culture is primarily male. A politically moderate suburban woman is thought to be more comfortable identifying with mothers of children killed in mass school murders than with men having unfettered ability to buy and sell semi-automatic rifles with large magazines out of car trunks at gun swaps.
Trump turns the issue to one of Hillary's hypocrisy on guns and asserts that Hillary's position is anti-women. He says that Crooked Hillary likes guns for herself because she has bodyguards with guns. And Trump does not argue the idea that anonymous men buying powerful weapons at gun shows is the sacred right. Instead, Trump argues that Hillary is attempting to disarm vulnerable women from protecting themselves against just those sorts of men.
Trump has switched the polarity of the debate. He says gun control puts women at risk.
Trump said, "Let their bodyguards disarm, OK? They should immediately disarm and let's see how good they do."
Trump said, "Let their bodyguards disarm, OK? They should immediately disarm and let's see how good they do."
Trump de-legitimizes. The implication is Hillary the elitist hypocrite. She gets the privilege of gun safety while denying it to the women she pretends to defend. Hillary thinks she is better than you.
A comment on Trump's grammar:
Most of my readers will notice the grammatical error in Trump's attack. Our elementary school teachers (thank you Mrs. Lorton, Montgomery, Hamilton, and Hicks) would have attempted to drill us that "good" is the adjective; "well" is the adverb. His Wharton teachers would have asked "let's see how well they do." But punctiliousness over grammar would be just another version of elitism and burdensome political correctness.
Note that the article to the left is from "RedState.Com", an establishment Republican website, actively pushing a "Stop Trump" agenda. It attempts to mock and undermine Trump, using a terrible photo of him and observing that Trump's grammar is that of a 5th Grader. The story was written March 21, 2016. Trump went on to greater and greater victories after that date. Trump can use bad grammar. Trump's errors are interpreted as evidence of plain talk, honesty, and genuineness. People who point out grammar errors--particularly teachers, wives, or mothers--are perceived as nags and scolds. No schoolboy likes red ink corrections on papers he turns in. If Hillary and her supporters want to fall into the category of nag, scold, and emasculating bitch, that is OK with Trump.
Either by instinct or by very studied craft, Trump knows what to do in a fight. Trump has changed the issue from Hillary in solidarity with women against gun violence into Hillary as elitist who makes women vulnerable to gun violence.
My Democratic friends who secretly hoped the "unelectable" Trump would win the nomination were quite mistaken. Trump could win. He fights very skillfully.
1 comment:
Great work, Peter. This election is Ms. Clinton's to lose, and has she has previously shown, it could well happen that we could see a crypto fascist in the oval office. I have been a Bernie supporter,but for some time now I have had to change my mind. His trying to blame the actions of his supporters in Nevada on the DNC and the process is right out of the Republican playbook and his "Never Hillary" supporters who say they will vote for T-rump over Clinton baffle me. Have the people in this country really become that unhinged and poorly informed? Keep up the good work.
Post a Comment