With 2020 Hindsight: Told You So!

November 5, 2019

As we enter 2020 it’s clearer than ever that Donald Trump can’t be stopped through conventional strategies of influence. Framing plays that recast his narratives are muted, call outs on his lies are oddly irrelevant, and baits of his ego seem only to fuel it. Our very unconventional 45th president thrives on conflict because he and his base want the fight, regardless of its merit or malevolence.

From as early as November 2015, these blogs below reasoned that the best way to beat The Donald was not to slow him down but speed him up him. I thinks it’s still true. What do you think?

How to Beat The Donald: Encourage Him  Nov. 30, 2015 – Handwringing has never been so vigorous in American politics.  Call them vanity candidates, protest candidates or, heck, qualified candidates — the likes of Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina are not supposed to happen in presidential contests. But they’re in the mix, and GOP fathers are worried one will be nominated. (cont.)

Rx for Trump Haters: Help Him  Jan. 21, 2016 – Back in November, I proposed a solution for Donald Trump haters: Encourage him.  The usual tricks have failed so it’s time to think different, I reasoned. I wasn’t kidding. From the perspective of the Table of Influence Strategies, none of the 24 plays one might consider conventional, comfortable or low-risk have worked. What might work is what’s hardest to do: Help The Donald or get out of his way. (cont.)

It’s Counter-Intuitive: Four Plays to Stop The Donald  March 10, 2016 – Reading the obituaries for Marco Rubio’s political career, it’s clear that pundits will judge the junior senator’s fatal misstep to be his quick turn on Donald Trump — five days of trash talking that ensured his Super Tuesday swoon. (cont.)

Post by Alan Kelly