Tag: Trump

Ivanka Trump–The Secret Weapon

As Donald Trump mounts an improbable comeback heading into the final week of the campaign, he will surely need every ounce of support from his surrogates. His best and most influential surrogate happens to be his daughter, Ivanka Trump. Ivanka possesses numerous assets–she’s a gifted orator, a successful businesswomen, and most of all she is able to serve as a role model to young women throughout the country. She uses these skills in an attempt to bridge the gap between her father and hesitant women voters by counteracting the prevailing idea that Donald’s view of gender roles is archaic.

There’s no doubt that a lot of female voters see Donald Trump as a man of the 20th century, rooted in a deep web of misogyny. And Trump’s best counter argument to this perception of him is not found in anything he says or does, but instead it has manifested itself in his daughter, Ivanka. Ivanka is, by most all accounts, a kind, intelligent, and successful person. This presents a useful contradiction to the notion that Donald Trump is a misogynist because after all, if he were a sexist how could he raise his daughter to be such an independent, driven person? Now of course you the reader could claim that Donald’s Ex-Wife Ivana did the vast majority of the child rearing, and you’d probably be right, but what matters the most is what the electorate thinks. And you can be rest assured that the Trump campaign is going to use Ivanka to overcome the narrative that Donald has an outdated view on gender roles.

So what comprises Ivanka Trump’s résumé? She is currently the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, she is a successful author, and a former model to boot. Objectively speaking that’s quite impressive. For those raising their daughters in today’s world they want there to be nothing in society holding women back, and Ivanka, although the privileged daughter of a billionaire, could certainly serve as a role model to girls everywhere.

With just 8 days to go before election day, expect to see Ivanka Trump back on the campaign trail as she continues her mission to humanize her father to women across the country. It remains to be seen whether or not her father can pull off one of the greatest political upsets of all time, but if he does it will be in large part because of his secret weapon: Ivanka Trump.

A Man with a Feminine Style

Feminine Style

What does it mean to speak in a feminine style? Research says Donald Trump could give us an idea. According to a post from Politico, Trump’s linguistic style has been much more feminine than that of his opponents. Researchers classify feminine style as speech with more tentative and emotion-laden words, more use of the word “I,”and words associated with a lower grade-level- among other characteristics. As seen in the graphic below, Trump ranks significantly higher in feminine language than 35 other political candidates. Speakers who use a feminine style are able to reach their audience through an emotional appeal, making the speaker seem more likable and trustworthy. Likely, this is why Trump is able to hold as many supporters as he has, giving them the backing to stand strong against fact-checkers.trump_feminine_final_1.png

Why Does it Matter?

Emotions are the basis for citizens’ votes, female and male. According to Drew Westen, “The political brain is an emotional brain. It is not a dispassionate calculating machine, objectively searching for the right facts, figures and policies to make a reasoned decision.” With the emotion in Trump’s feminine style, he is able to pull voters in, putting us at the current polls showing Clinton only one point above Trump at 46-45. The current debate is Trump’s “women problem” vs. Clinton’s emails, and voters are having to make decisions based not on facts, but what their hearts feel is less-destructive. For women, the decision is most often that the emails are less-destructive. A part

A Look at the Next 9 Days

As October surprises come to a close, emotions are running rampant. Both candidates are fighting for numbers in their chance for the Presidency, and the female vote is a deciding factor in who will win the election. As early voters go to the polls, women are voting for Hillary more than they are for Trump. This is likely because they feel a strong connection to their “tribe,” making is seem completely possible and often ideal that a woman secure the Presidency. With Trump’s continued attacks against women, his feminine style, though it gains a number of white male votes, isn’t yet gaining a majority of the feminine vote.

Trump’s Continual Failure to Persuade Women

According to the most recent average of polls, Donald Trump is losing right now by about 5.5%. Honestly, that’s not as bad as one would expect following the avalanche of sexual assault accusations after the second presidential debate. Now, of course, it’s not good for team Trump, but if there’s one thing Donald has consistently done this entire campaign it’s coming back from the brink. And with two weeks to go before election day, the only thing that should be coming out of his mouth is his often persuasive argument that he is the candidate for true change in the American political system. Instead, when he should be talking about policy, he seems to be intentionally trying to lose as many female voters as possible.

An excellent summary of the problems with Trump’s rhetoric when it comes to courting female voters was displayed in his speech at Gettysburg on Saturday.

Now, in many ways this was a very good policy speech by Trump that will only further energize his base. Except for that part at the very beginning when he: 1. Brings up the sexual assault accusers, 2. Calls them all liars, and 3. Promises to sue them all after the election. In a speech that should have been nothing but policy, Trump needlessly inserts this scandal into the speech (as well as his foot in his mouth). So, what does the media cover from this extensive and specific policy speech?

That part at the beginning where he continues to alienate the vast majority of female voters. And can we blame them? Of course they’re going to cover the most provocative things the candidate says. Which means that what could have potentially been a very compelling argument to a segment of viewers will now, because of Trump, be seen as yet another reason why a large percentage of women are repulsed by him.

In short, Donald Trump gets in his own way far too often for him to be able to mount a miracle comeback. The smartest move for Trump when it comes to winning over females who are afraid of him is to hammer on his core principles: Trade, immigration, and national security. Instead the message they’re hearing from Trump is: The numerous women who have accused me of sexual assault are all lying and I will sue them all after the election.

Yikes.

Third Presidential Debate: Use of Storytelling, Emotions, and Framing with The 2ndAmendment

On Wednesday October 20 in Las Vegas Nevada, the third presidential debate of 2016 took place. The past two time Hillary and Donald, heated arguments dominated the conversations. This time was no different.

Moderator, Chris Wallace, started the candidates on some controversial topics, such as The Supreme Court and The Constitution.

Clinton had the stage first, saying she wants a supreme court that will stand up for women’s rights and the LBGT community, and stand against Citizen’s United.

Next, Trump took an opportunity to pivot away from matters, such as women’s rights, that make him look unpresidential, to talk about the 2nd Amendment.

“We need a Supreme Court that in my opinion is going to uphold the second amendment and all amendments, but the second amendment which is under absolute siege.”

This began the conversation (which was surprisingly tame).

Clinton rebutted saying,

“I understand and respect the tradition of gun ownership that goes back to the founding of our country, but I also believe that there can be and must be reasonable regulation.”

Each candidate made their stance, but how did they do it?

Clinton talked about gun control through storytelling and appealed to the emotions of her audience. Similar to the My Mom political ad on gun violence. She began her statement by saying, “I lived in Arkansas for 18 wonderful years.” This is very typical of a fairytale which often begins with A long time ago in a land far far away.

She also appeals to emotions later after Wallace mentions the Heller Decision. She says, “Well, I was upset because unfortunately, dozens of toddlers injure themselves, even kill people with guns because unfortunately, not everyone who has loaded guns in their homes takes appropriate precautions.” Here Clinton identifies her anger that will resonate with others who felt upset about the court’s decision. She then allows for others to understand her emotion with the information on toddlers.

What do you think? How do you think that Trump’s argument stood up to Clinton’s?

Click here to see a full transcript of the debate.

Click here to watch the debate.

FINISH THE DRILL

In the upcoming debate, Clinton will be looking to solidify the nation’s vote. In doing so, Clinton will be focusing hard on locking in the votes of minorities and immigrants who are directly affected by racial injustice. During this debate I expect Clinton to lay out the plan she has to bring about racial equality in all aspects of life in this country, she needs to be very specific and straight to the point to give the American people belief in her and what direction she is going to head upon entering the presidential office. Right now, Clinton has tons of momentum heading into the last debate and needs to keep rolling to solidify her spot as the nation’s top presidential nominee.

There are two pieces of presidential debate that Clinton will be honing in on. They are “stated proposition” being racial injustice, and “intent to gain the attention of an audience” by gaining the attention of all people directly affected by the racial injustices that take place in this country. Clinton has pulled away substantially in the last two debates, as they say “if it isn’t broke don’t fix it”. Clinton needs to continue to hammer down the topics she has been which include racial injustice and much more.

Presidential debate predictions: What to expect from Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump

Clinton stated in the last debate that Trump owed an apology to America for the alienation and verbal abuse of minority groups which has divided America which he was apart of. This accusation further separated herself from Trump and has helped her gain momentum with the minority and immigrant vote. I look for her to continue with these tactics to solidify her vote with the people directly affected with racial injustices.

Political Campaign Advertisements: Framing of Hillary Clinton in regards to Gun Control

Although the 2016 presidential campaign differs from traditional campaigns, one thing remains constant, the effect political ads have on voter decisions.

Just like artists frame their pieces, campaigns aim to frame candidates. Rhetorical framing happens when an object, situation, or person has been described in a way that leads the audience to believe a certain way. In this campaign, Trump frames Clinton as untrustworthy, hypocritical, untransformative, and weak. While she tries to frame herself as nurturing, knowledgeable, relatable, and strong.

Nurturing, Protective Mother

Hillary Clinton informs her audience of her stance through the use of positive, story-telling ads. In one ad title My Mom, the daughter of a victim of the Sandy Hook Shooting describes the loss of her mother, the principle of the school. It starts with wedding pictures and the daughter telling the story of planning her wedding with her mother. Scenes of ambulance lights and a news article covering the shooting appear on screen. Next the daughter says,

“No one is fighting harder to reform our gun laws than Hillary Clinton”

The narration continues with the daughter stating that Clinton “reminds me of my mother”.

In this ad, Clinton uses testimonial to reach her target audience of younger, college educated women. Hillary frames herself as a loving caring motherly figure. This ad extols Hillary virtues through the use of narrative and story-telling.

Hypocrite Hillary

While Clinton frames herself as protective and nurturing in her gun control political ads, Trump attacks her practices during his speeches.

 

Because harsh backlash happened after Trump’s comment, “2nd Amendment people” should “take care” of Hillary, the NRA, The National Rifle Association, decided that they should intervene and distribute an attack ad instead of doing something more extreme (which could have been implied with Trump’s controversial quote).

In this particular ad, the NRA focuses on framing Hillary as a “hypocrite”. The ad starts with black SUVs escorted by police vehicles pulling up to a private jet. Hillary steps out of the SUV and armed guard walk her to the plane. The ad says that Hillary “tours on private jets protected by guards for thirty years, but she doesn’t believe in your right to keep a gun at home for self defense”. Because Trump did not attach his approval, this ad has the ability to attack Clinton as hard as it wants. PACs do not abide by the same rules as candidates. In fact, most attack ads which occur during a normal political campaign are paid for and distributed by PACs.

What does framing mean for the election?

With citizens already heading to the polls for early voting to elect the next president, it is important to understand how framing effects their decisions. For those who watch NRA’s ad, they could see Hillary as a hypocrite or untrustworthy. For those who watched the My Mom ad, they could see Hillary as someone who will nurture The United States of America back to health after the gun violence occurring across the country.

“Losing an Election for Dummies!” by Donald Trump

My oh my what a weekend it was. Unless you’re living under a rock you’ve heard about the now infamous video of Donald Trump demeaning women and bragging about being able to commit sexual assault. For many potential voters, the Donald has officially jumped the shark in terms of saying shocking things, and his support has plummeted. If you want my hot take, I’d say there is no longer a path to victory for Donald Trump unless something absolutely catastrophic happens to the Clinton campaign.

The thing about saying something so dark and indefensible about women is that they literally make up over half the general electorate. There’s no coming back from this. Whatever female support he had mustered to this point has essentially evaporated, and he’s not going to win Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, etc. without that support. As it turns out, female voters were put off by him reducing them to pieces of meat that he can sexually assault because he’s of high status. Shockingly, female voters weren’t very thrilled at his subsequent response to the video wherein he “apologized if anyone was offended”. It would seem as though the female electorate wishes to be seen as individual human beings, and not objects.

I feel bad for Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway. She is likely working extremely hard to present Donald Trump as presidential to the American people, and then the whole thing gets set on fire by the sheer reality that surfaced in the leaked tape: Donald Trump is not presidential. He does not act with the decorum or respect for human decency that the President of the United States must exhibit at all times. He cannot be reigned in, and his message is failing as a result.

And the great comedy of it all? Donald Trump’s MESSAGE could have won this election. In a year where people are hungry for change in D.C., Trump’s populist political movement could’ve ridden the wave of anti-establishment all the way to the Oval Office–if only that message weren’t being sabotaged every step of the way by it’s messenger.

 

Accountability Check

In the past debate, Clinton was able to show the nation that Trump needs to be held accountable for his actions. Clinton spoke about Trump bashing a federal judge who was born in Indiana whose parents were “Mexican” therefore he could not be trusted. This is another example of Clinton making sure that the nation does not see this behavior as normal and acceptable.

In another instance, Clinton spoke about how Trump never apologized to the current POTUS for calling him a non-american because he was under the impression that Obama was not born in the U.S. Clinton deemed that a racist lie in the last debate, and that Trump needed to apologize to not only the POTUS but the country of America as well. Clinton finished these remarks by stating that Trump once again needed to be held accountable for his racist remarks and actions. Clinton was able to separate herself in this past debate when it comes to a racial standpoint because of these statements against Trump.

Clinton used “confrontation” one of the six elements of debating to bring public attention and focus on to his actions, and she was able to publicly condemn him for his racial remarks. While America was watching this most definitely helped her ethos as a defender and as the candidate that cares and will fight for racial justice in America. Personally, I found her remarks to be very beneficial to her campaign in my eyes because of the fact that Trump did not try to defend himself on the accusations because he realized that his actions were being watched and he was being held accountable and the whole nation now sees him as a different person than they may have before this second debate.

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Attempts to Win Back the Female Vote


160819195354-kellyanne-conway-donald-trump-split-large-169Trump’s Campaign Manager to the Rescue

In August it became evident that something had changed in the Donald Trump campaign. Trump shocked people across the nation as he began to appear more presidential than ever before.  Trump himself has not changed, but rather his campaign manager. His new manager, Kellyanne Conway has a tough road ahead of her as she tries to help Trump “woo women” voters.

Conway Manages Trump’s Crises

Conway has not been successful in changing Trump’s attitude nor comments towards women, but she has worked to counteract them. The most recent crisis Conway has managed occurred six days after the first presidential debate, where Trump once again isolated possible women voters as he attacked former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado.  The campaign tried to counteract his comments with the release of a new ad, “Motherhood,” starring Ivanka Trump. To see the ad click here. The Washington Post describes this latest ad as, “the most overt appeal yet to women voters…”

Trump’s Latest Ad

This ad mainly targets female voters as it shows Ivanka taking on the task of being both a provider and a mother. She uses powerful language such as, “the most important job any woman can have is being a mother, and it shouldn’t mean taking a tax cut,” and “he will provide tax credits for child care, paid maternity leave, and dependent-care savings accounts,”
screen-shot-2016-10-04-at-10-21-10-am to appeal to the women voters. Whether you believe her comments or not, you can’t deny that the adorable children appeal to your emotions. According to Trent and Friedenberg political ads often serve a variety of functions, but I believe that this ads’ main objective is to redefine Trump’s image. This is supported by  both the timing of the ad and the rhetoric used within it. Ivanka successfully fulfills her role as a surrogate in this ad, however this one ad can’t undo every sexist comment or action Trump has made. But the creation of this ad is a good first step in appealing to women voters.

 

sources:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/30/ivanka-trump-stars-in-new-campaign-ad-to-help-her-father-appeal-to-women/

https://thinkprogress.org/kellyanne-conway-trump-c6b04fba7c12#.6qvsvfk4l

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/09/meet_the_nj_native_whos_running_donald_trumps_camp.html

www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/us/politics/alicia-machado-donald-trump.html

Trump Inc.

Donald Trump, our countries’ Republican nominee, has a strong stance on business and economic matters because of his connections to businesses including his own. Born in Queens, New York, and raised into a wealthy family. Trump is a multi-billionaire fortune 500 CEO; but also loses ethos because of his multiple businesses that have failed.

http://qz.com/798940/donald-trumps-leaked-1995-tax-return-raises-these-big-unanswered-questions/

Donald Trump refused to release his tax records from over the years, simply because he did not have much to them besides what he needed to claim. Since 1995 Donald Trump has paid nothing in federal taxes as Hillary Clinton pointed out at a previous debate, which, more or less, istrump-twtr-post true. Once Donald Trump filed a $916 million loss in 1995, he was exempt from paying no more than the legal requirement for up to 18 years. Donald Trump opened casinos and hotels, contracted workers and then just walked out on them, without having to pay them. Was this the wrong way to go? Absolutely. Donald Trump may have placed himself in a hierarchy to those workers and have only been thinking about him, but he knows business.

Donald Trump knows the business world and all the laws and loopholes better than anyone else. Because of this he would be a successful president – he can help us fix these loopholes and the other policies in place that cause our country to continually raise the debt. Donald Trump knows how to stop it. On the issues that Donald Trump may seem less “PC” (politically correct) than most candidates, but the United States has in places the 3 branches of government, full of checks and balances.

Donald Trump could do little to no harm to America than what has already been done. Whmw-eh105_casino_zg_20160303160414at he can do is make America great again the way he has ingeniously done by making himself a multibillionaire.

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-taxes.html?_r=0