The True Role of Middle Class Rhetoric

At this point in Clinton and Trump’s race for the White House, I feel confident that there has never been an election where the issues matter less. This is not to say that people will not still vote based on their policy tendencies, but given the personalities, unanswered questions, indiscretions, and possible corruption in both candidates, the choice at this point seems to revolve more around personality and less around policy.

Analyzing the current state of the election in the context of Hillary’s rhetoric of middle class voters is a challenge. Between leaked emails and tax returns, Clinton’s ability to relate to middle class voters on a genuine level is completely diminished. While Clinton was able to establish and promote a nostalgic narrative of her father’s workshop and her middle class upbringing in the first debate, greater issues took priority in the race and drowned out her ability to promote this narrative. I feel strongly that the 2016 vote will not be greatly characterized by the Middle Class’ favor of one candidate.

For the next week, I think that Hillary’s best strategy will be highlighting Trump’s recklessness and unfit nature for office. As of writing this post, many of her tweets reflect this tactic. Based on twitter activity, it almost seems that Hillary is in the same position as Trump was in the third debate; a position where she must use extreme tactics to deflect attention and blame in light of a recent scandal. While policies benefitting the middle class will still play a part in who we elect as our next president, I simply believe that other issues will have a greater effect on the outcome.

2 thoughts on “The True Role of Middle Class Rhetoric

  1. I think you bring up a really interesting point. I definitely agree that the issues are playing little to no role in this election. I also like your analysis on Hillary’s recent Twitter activity.

  2. I agree that Clinton’s middle class narrative has not been effective. Other issues have overshadowed it. Due to the media coverage of her email scandal, I don’t think her words will reach the middle class.

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