What’s Important NOW?

Tomorrow’s election is very critical because voters will be turning up to the polls and casting their votes on this election. WHO WILL COME OUT ON TOP?! Voters will be coming to the polls with many issues flowing through their minds before inking or electronically finalizing their votes to be processed. The voters will be coming to the polls with an idea in mind but many will not have made up their mind until just before casting their ballot, and the sad reality is that many will not even make it to the polls on what could be the biggest election ever for this country. Many will be heading to the polls with individual reasons as to who they cast their ballot for, for instance pro-life vs. pro-choice, foreign affairs, security, or economy. However, for many minorities it will be a huge day for the future of their livelihood in the United States. Obviously, because of the very opposing views that Clinton and Trump have on immigration make it a very pivotal piece of tomorrow’s vote.

Trump has really hurt himself when it comes to the immigrant vote with his comments on the national stage, however Clinton is known for being more of the open arms type when it comes to immigration. On one end of the spectrum you have someone who wants to build a wall and get rid of all immigrants without proper documentation. On the other end you have a woman who is more caring, sympathetic, and loving when it comes to people. For Clinton, it is bigger than documentation, Clinton sees people for who they are and would be more prone to take them under her wing, which illuminates an emotional response from the minority population. This is a way that Clinton continuously builds on her pathos and gains the upper hand on Trump and the minority vote. People see that Clinton is very open and willing to work with minorities/immigrants and these people are hurting and they find Clinton as the more appealing nominee.

The Surprises Continue

Donald Trumps support among the female population has taken a large hit with all the recent October surprises. However, the decline in his support among women is simply a result from his past rhetoric. The most recent example of this is seen in an article published by The Huffingt on Post. Trump’s votes among women will continue to decline with the release of another video clip.

The Video

The clip uploaded to this article is from 2007 and shows Donald Trump once again addressing women in an inappropriate manner. In the clip Trump is seen in front of a large audience where he calls all the women “girls.” Not only does this highlight the lack of respect he has for women, but he takes it a step farther by admitting that he refuses to call them women: “The girls– we’re supposed to call them women, but they’re girls to me — the girls…” (Arthur Delaney). The unprofessional language he uses towards women only furthers to contradict with his recent statement, “Nobody has more respect for women than I do” (Bloomberg Politics)

In the video he also makes a comment in regards to all the beautiful women who surrounded him at the workplace. He highlights the lack of control he has as he states, “girls, get off the stage right now. You’ll get me in trouble” (Arthur Delaney) The recent allegations against him in regards to sexual assault is supported by the rhetoric he uses in this video.

Significance

On its own this clip holds no real significance, however Trump has created a rhetorical situation in which this has a negative impact on his own campaign. Since the release of the “locker room talk” video, Trump has continued to claim he has great respect for women. However, the immature and insensitive rhetoric used in this video only continues to prove that he has zero respect for females

Throughout the past few weeks it has become increasingly evident that the female “tribe” is becoming stronger than ever. In the Political Campaign Communication textbook it stated that people don’t experience things through actions, but rather words. Not every woman in American has made an allegation of sexual assault, nonetheless countless women have supported the victims by withdrawing their vote for Trump. The continual release of videos such as this only increases the unity and opposition of women against Trump.

NODAPL=SILENCE

In North Dakota there is a havoc being stirred up because of the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline which could possibly end up destroying sacred places, and pose a huge ecological risk which could potentially poison a numerous amount of water supply. At the end of the day Clinton has yet to take a stance on this trending topic and by not taking it stance it is hurting her vote with the indigenous people of America. There is a number of Americans in this country that have indigenous backgrounds who could possibly feel oppressed as well as not defended by Clinton choosing to take the stance of “silence”. When it comes down to it I can side with Hillary not wanting to speak out on how she feels about the situation because of the October surprises as well as the reopening of her investigation by the FBI. Clinton is not in a good spot to take a stance with everything going on around her. However, I do believe that which ever candidate comes out on this situation in the next couple of days could gain the indigenous vote through taking the most appealing stance. It is just a matter of which candidate will take the opportunity and run with it.

#NoDAPL

I believe Hillary needs to come out and use an emotional appeal (PATHOS), so she can solidify herself not only on caring for the people involved in this situation but also to solidify the indigenous vote. The people being affected by this are very worried for their health and what is going to happen in the process of the construction. Clinton needs to come out with a plan of action and what route will be most valuable to the benefit of the people affected. Everyone involved will be at ease when a plan of action comes out that will be appealing to the people. If Clinton does come out before Trump on this situation it will benefit her tremendously by increasing her ethos and painting her as the image of being a capable future Commander-in-Chief. However, if it is not appealing to them it could crash and burn and essentially lose the vote of the indigenous people because they will feel racially oppressed against. This is a pivotal situation that needs to benefitted by one of the candidates it is just a matter of which one will take it and run with it!

The Attacks Continue

Donald Trump has been unsuccessful in winning the female vote simply because of his behavior and attitude towards women. Over the course of this election we have heard verbal assaults, claims of sexual assault, and most recently his announcement of financial assault.

His solution for everything.

Trump is a business man at heart so his most recent remarks in regards to suing his accusers is far from a surprise. During a recent visit to Gettysburg, Pa, Trump told his audience that “the women accusing him of sexual assault will be sued after the election” (Los Angeles Times). Despite the well written speech, the good aspects within it were quickly overshadowed by these comments. Not only did he violate the sacred nature of Gettysburg with this comment, but he also continues to push away the female audience. However, the most significant aspect of this situation can be seen in how Secretary Clinton uses Trumps rhetoric for her benefit.

The hero swings in

Through much of this election, Clinton has spent time using Trump’s rhetoric to further her own campaign. Shortly after Trump made this announcement, Clinton quickly told the press that if Trump was elected president, he would spend his time suing women. She ultimately uses Trump’s own words against him in an attempt to further the gap between Trump and his distant female voters. This all allows Clinton to create the narrative that Trump is a bully and he will attack women verbally, sexually, and financially.

The hypocritical nature

In a response to the lewd 2005 video, Trump announced that he had the most respect for women. However, this whole situation continues to prove otherwise. Rather than simply ignoring the allegations, he has gone out of his way to threaten all these women. In fact, many women across the country believe Trump is using this possible lawsuit as a way to conceal the truth and silence the women who have come forward (Temple Taggart). Women all across the country continue to feel threaten by both Trump’s actions and rhetoric allowing us to conclude that very few women will be supporting him this election day. However, with only two weeks until election day, there is very little Trump can do to mend the distant relationship he has created with women.

When an Icon Disapproves

Michelle Obama and the Female Vote

Over the past 8 years, Michelle Obama has proven to be a driving force among the female population of the United States. As First Lady of the President of the United States, she has been able to communicate the ideal image of women across the country and make an impact on how young girls see their futures. With her stark disapproval of Trump’s 2005 tapes, she represents the feelings of women all across the country. Women identify with her and therefore support the identity she creates for Trump in segments of her campaign speech for Secretary Hillary Clinton. She says desperately that she “can’t stop thinking about this,” allowing the feelings of other women to be validated. The purpose of her speech, however, is to speak for Hillary Clinton’s campaign…not just to disapprove of Donald Trump’s.

No Vote at all is a Vote for Him

In Michelle Obama’s speech, she constructs her argument in a way that not only tells voters-both female and male- that they shouldn’t vote for Trump, but also that they should vote for Hillary Clinton: “no vote at all is a vote for him.” This two-sided technique allows her to achieve two goals with one speech. An article found on LexisNexis mentions her speech and quotes her with saying “I can’t believe I’m saying that a candidate for president of the United States bragged about sexually assaulting women.”

So What does this mean for Trump? It means that he is not only just losing female votes…he’s losing them to her. And Hillary Clinton is capitalizing on it with pages like this one, stating that “Michelle Obama just said what every woman in America is thinking right now.” Because of Donald Trump’s failure to effectively apologize and repair the situation, Hillary Clinton has a wide open window to make herself look better- through her own words and those of surrogates like Michelle Obama. And those actions are allowing the declining number of female votes for Donald Trump to continue falling.