It’s here. The highly anticipated election 2020, whether America is ready for November 3 or not. The long and arduous slog through 25 Democrat wannabes is now a sprint to the finish line with two opponents who are willing to leave it all on the battlefield. Make no mistake: the best campaign will be victorious. And Trump seems to be dominating in that respect.
In light of the Democratic National Convention’s virtual pomp and circumstance for which no one tuned in this week, President Trump and the Republican National Committee are thrusting campaign 2020 into overdrive. Whatever plan is afoot must knock the socks off the electorate and propel a massive get out the vote.
Elections in the time of COVID are a challenge. In 2016, Trump was packing 20,000 capacity stadiums with overflows in every city and state in the nation. The momentum was inexhaustible and unstoppable. Four years later, governors have stifled political gatherings at every turn, creating a large knot in the campaigning style of the incumbent. Trump feeds off a live audience. He is a master at making each audience member feel he is personally talking to them – a skill most mediocre politicians never perfect. Former presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were masterful communicators – and Biden has lost that skill – but Trump is better.
Feeding Off Failure
The curse of going first with a show and tell convention is a boon for the Trump camp: It is obvious what worked and what was an abject failure. The Democrats intoning a dark and evil world overrun by a rampant virus and racists around every corner made for four days of bashing the current president, with little in the way of substance. Sure, when Biden is president, all the bad juju will magically disappear. There were no messages of hope and change so much as a parade of people attempting to paint Biden’s camp as the big tent. The ratings were abysmal, with people tuning out in the millions.
So how will the Republican National Committee respond and retaliate? The Trumps will have a relatively similar parade of turncoat Democratic Party ex-pats, Brandon Straka, the leader of the #WalkAway movement, a united rainbow of color, creed, and identity: but they will add crowds. They will have less tape and more live, and no one is going to talk ad nauseam about their tragic life thus far. Trump can tout three and a half years of accomplishments the Democrats declared dead during the Obama era, and the positive spin of hoping for that economy to come roaring back is a heady enticement for embattled Americans.
Hammer The Successes
Expect Trump to fire up his burgeoning base by plugging the strength of the military, the sacrifices of local law enforcement, the criminal activities involving Black Lives Matter and Antifa. And unlike Biden, Trump will continue to hammer the job of draining the Swamp and fighting corruption inside the federal government.
The president and vice-president are traveling to deliver messages to small groups. Democrats hunkered down into bunkers avoiding contact with the constituency. Even smallish groups of voters and believers will make the difference heading into the next several weeks. Optics will include a robust and healthy man versus the more elderly appearing Biden, who stays rooted in his cellar studio.
Both Democrat and Republican voters are looking forward to less than perfectly edited and scripted presidential debates. A side by side, civil discussion about America’s pros and cons is necessary for either man to win the whole shebang. But getting former Vice President Biden to the same stage as President Trump is a risk. Biden loses his temper when candidates or voters push the right buttons, and Trump is a master poker.
The trick is to have Trump not appear to be beating up on the tragic, folksy-affecting Grandpa Joe. What terrifies both parties – but perhaps Democrats more so – is that live debates will undo the carefully crafted delivery of the chosen message.
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Read more from Sarah Cowgill.
