Horowitz: Romney’s Trump Take-Down is Having an Impact
Rob Horowitz, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™
Horowitz: Romney’s Trump Take-Down is Having an Impact
The impact of Romney’s speech could be seen at Thursday night’s Republican debate, where the moderators and other candidates echoed many of its themes. Admittedly, debates are not Donald Trump’s strong suit. But he had had a particularly bad night, looking testy and defensive and truly flailing when pushed by Cruz and Rubio to explain how his plan to replace Obamacare would work..The highlight was Megyn Kelly putting excerpts from court decisions on the screen for everyone to see to show that Trump’s defenses of Trump University’s practices were pretty much fact-free. Any one who watched that exchange, who was not a strong Trump supporter, came away thinking that Trump University was the scam Trump opponents and the New York Attorney General say it is.
Romney’s speech and follow-up media activities were in all likelihood one of the contributing factors to Trump’s less than impressive performance in the four contests held on Saturday. Ted Cruz garnered more total delegates than Trump, defeating him by more than 2-to-1 in Kansas, beating him handily in Maine, and losing narrowly to Trump in Louisiana and Kentucky. Tellingly, while Trump won convincingly in Louisiana among people that participated in early voting, Cruz narrowly defeated Trump among the voters that cast their ballot on Saturday. It is the case that 3-out-of-4 of these contests were caucuses where Trump does not tend to perform as well and all of the contests, including the Louisiana primary, were open only to registered Republicans, preventing Trump from benefiting from his appeal to some registered Independents and Democrats. Even with those caveats, however, Mitt Romney's observation about Saturday’s results on Fox News: “That’s because people are starting to take a better look at Donald Trump.” is still on target.
Of all the powerful points made in Romney’s speech, the one that goes to the heart of Trump’s brand and as a result has the most potential to damage him is that he doesn’t tell it like it is; in fact, he does just the opposite. Romney remarked, “Trump’s hallmark is dishonesty. Later in the speech, he said, “There’s plenty of evidence that Mr. Trump is a con man, a fake.” This reinforces the accurate charges made by Rubio and Cruz about Trump’s ‘tenuous’ relationship to the truth And Trump’s fundamental untruthfulness is finally getting some traction.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBecause most of Trump’s claims about himself, any one who opposes him and about policy are pretty much fact-free and he is shameless in his willingness to bend the truth, he had emerged pretty much unscathed even from tough interview questions. He simply lies and evades, counting on his ability to do so convincingly to get him through the moment, until the interviewer moves onto a new topic. So the fact that in 2015 PolitiFact awarded him with the ‘Lie of the Year’ rating more than 3-out-4 of the 77 statements of his they fact-checked mostly false, false or pants-on-fire hasn’t had the impact it should.
But now that Romney and Trump’s opponents are repeatedly pointing out his pervasive pattern of telling lies and tying it to some of his questionable business practices--ones that have resulted in real people being hurt-- this dynamic is beginning to change. Journalists and commentators are now following up on Trump University and other examples that drive the point home.
Trump calls to mind the famous quote by the novelist Mary McCarthy about the playwright Lillian Hellman: “Every thing she writes is a lie, including ‘and’ and the." In Trump’s case, his untruths are mainly self-serving, designed to make him seem richer and smarter than he really is, to justify racially tinged policy proposals, and to smear his opponents.
In the end, this major character-flaw may be his undoing, and if it is, Mitt Romney will deserve a big share of the credit.
Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.
10 Ways Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump Are Actually Similar
Universal Health Care
Despite sitting on opposite sides of the aisle, Trump and Sanders essentially share the same healthcare plan. But you don’t have to take our word for it—Ted Cruz, Trump’s chief rival, said himself that Trump and Sanders “have basically the same healthcare plan," in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
"Donald Trump enthusiastically supported the TARP bailout of big banks. I opposed it. He enthusiastically supported Barack Obama's stimulus plan. He thought it should have been bigger. I think it was a disaster and a waste of money. Actually, Donald not only supported both of those, but he argued that Obamacare should be expanded to make it socialized medicine for everyone,” Cruz told Hannity
Reforming Wall Street
Both candidates have made serious noise talking about reforming Wall Street. Bernie Sanders has just about made his whole career on taking on financial kingpins, and has attracted many young fans in the process.
While the uber-capitalist Trump may seem like the candidate to take on his fellow one-percenters, his words say something different. Trump blasted hedge fund managers on CBS, saying they are “getting away with murder,” on CBS’ “Face the Nation" in 2015.
"The hedge fund guys didn't build this country. These are guys that shift paper around and they get lucky,” Trump said.
They Don't Take Money from Wall Street
It’s not just that the candidates criticize Wall Street and big banks—plenty do that. But Trump and Sanders back up their tough talk by not attracting campaign donations from those same financial institutions.
Sure, Hillary Clinton has taken aim at the major financial mavericks during her time on the campaign trail—what self-respecting Democrat hasn’t? But a closer look at her campaign financials shows that she isn’t putting her money where her mouth is.
Their Campaigns are Populist Movements
Neither Trump nor Sanders are what you would call a “party darling.” Both have taken aim at the lions and leaders of their own parties have been unafraid to make controversial statements regarding the political establishments.
Instead, their campaigns have been buoyed by passionate, typically politically apathetic people. People who have finally found someone they can relate to in the political landscape and someone they feel they can trust. Despite repeated predictions of failure, regular people continue to respond to their campaigns, as both Sanders and Trump remain near or at the polls as the primaries begin.
The Most Unusual Candidates (Ever?)
Trump and Sanders are certainly the most unusual candidates this year, as both the Republican and Democratic fields contain typical governors, senators and congressman vying for the ultimate government job. It goes one step further, however—they may be the most unusual candidates a Presidential campaign has ever seen.
Sure, Trump isn’t the first rich eccentric to take a run at the Oval Office (just google Ross Perot if you don’t believe us.) But he’s certainly the first candidate to speak about immigrants and other races as he has.
Massive Crowds
Political candidates of any variety like going where they are wanted. They make sure that there are plenty of warm well-wishers to make campaign events see exciting and full.
Trump and Sanders, however, seem to be able to attract raucous crowds that are more akin to rock concert or playoff game than a political rally. People come in costume, dressed as their favorite candidate. Teenagers, even though they cannot cast a vote, turn out in full face paint to support their candidate.
It’s happened all over the country. Record-setting crowds packed the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon and thousands filled the DCU Center to see Trump in Worcester, Massachusetts. Everywhere these candidates go, people rush to see them.
Lots of Small-Money Donations
Typically, leading Presidential campaigns are powered by big money donations, but that’s not the case for Trump and Sanders.
As Graphiq shows us below, Sanders and Trump are one and two, respectively in the amount of campaign donations under $200—a sure sign of grassroots support.
Real Talk
How often do you watch and listen to a political speaking, and find yourself drifting off to sleep or reaching for your iPhone?
That rarely seems to be the case when Trump or Sanders are on the mic. You never quite know when Trump will insult an entire religion or ethnic group in one thirty-second soundbite.
Not to be outdone, Sanders folksy and frantic style of speech has attracted attention—and plenty of jokes and memes—from all across the internet.
Slated for Failure
Since the first day that each candidate announced their campaign, the political intellectual and elite have told everyone that they just don’t stand a chance. Trump and Sanders are too controversial, their too radical and they are too inexperienced. How many times did political analysts or other talking heads say they would be out of the race before the first votes are ever cast?
Yet here we are, just a few days away from the first caucuses and primaries. Neither Trump nor Sanders are out of the race. Neither is on their dying breaths. They are thriving. And, as you’ll see in our next slide, they are winning
Leading in Iowa (and New Hampshire!)
If the latest polls are to believed these massively unusual candidates—one socialist, one real estate magnate/reality tv star, both with tons of small donations, both told they never had any chance—will be making victory speeches in Iowa and New Hampshire soon.
According to CNN, Trump has an 11 point lead among Republicans and Sanders an eight point lead among Democrats in Iowa just a few days before the caucus.
And in New Hampshire, as you’ll see below, Trump and Sanders have double digit leads as we approach the first true primary.
