This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/hillary-clinton-is-walking-into-donald-trumps-trap/2016/05/04/1cbe2722-120a-11e6-81b4-581a5c4c42df_story.html
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Hillary Clinton is walking into Donald Trump’s trap | Hillary Clinton is walking into Donald Trump’s trap |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| The writer is a political theorist at Harvard University and a contributing columnist for The Post. | The writer is a political theorist at Harvard University and a contributing columnist for The Post. |
| Donald Trump has set a big, fat trap for Hillary Clinton, and so far she has stepped right into it. He turned his attacks against women against her. She is, he argued, playing the “woman card.” And Clinton anted up, offering her supporters the chance to buy a “woman card.” From now until Nov. 8, Trump will surely continue to insult women. If Clinton routinely responds to those attacks, Trump will turn her into the “women’s candidate,” and she will lose. She is already perilously close to being that candidate. | Donald Trump has set a big, fat trap for Hillary Clinton, and so far she has stepped right into it. He turned his attacks against women against her. She is, he argued, playing the “woman card.” And Clinton anted up, offering her supporters the chance to buy a “woman card.” From now until Nov. 8, Trump will surely continue to insult women. If Clinton routinely responds to those attacks, Trump will turn her into the “women’s candidate,” and she will lose. She is already perilously close to being that candidate. |
| Let’s be honest. Polling shows that Trump has a problem with women, but it also shows that Clinton has a problem with men. Thanks to Bernie Sanders’s pushing and prodding over the course of the primary, Clinton’s vision has expanded, but we all know its core: She is a battle-tested warrior for women and children. | Let’s be honest. Polling shows that Trump has a problem with women, but it also shows that Clinton has a problem with men. Thanks to Bernie Sanders’s pushing and prodding over the course of the primary, Clinton’s vision has expanded, but we all know its core: She is a battle-tested warrior for women and children. |
| Consider her slogan, “Fighting for us.” For many men, this slogan would have to be experienced as emasculating. A woman fighting for them? Rightly or wrongly, the slogan rubs the wrong way in relation to traditional notions of masculinity. Her slogan itself reveals a limited conception of who she seeks to represent. This is a potentially fatal flaw in Clinton’s campaign. The more that Clinton takes Trump’s bait around the issue of his denigration of women, the more powerfully this flaw in her own campaign will show itself. | Consider her slogan, “Fighting for us.” For many men, this slogan would have to be experienced as emasculating. A woman fighting for them? Rightly or wrongly, the slogan rubs the wrong way in relation to traditional notions of masculinity. Her slogan itself reveals a limited conception of who she seeks to represent. This is a potentially fatal flaw in Clinton’s campaign. The more that Clinton takes Trump’s bait around the issue of his denigration of women, the more powerfully this flaw in her own campaign will show itself. |
| [This brutal new ad shows the shredding machine that awaits Trump] | |
| Clinton needs to fix this problem, and fast. And she needs to avoid taking Trump’s bait. | Clinton needs to fix this problem, and fast. And she needs to avoid taking Trump’s bait. |
| There are important lessons to be learned from the many Republican candidates who rose to the bait and were decimated by Trump’s rhetoric. His monikers for them consistently had two effects: They pushed his foes off message and also forced them to fight on turf that Trump chose for them. Trump wants to rumble with Clinton in a battle of the sexes because he believes that it will be losing terrain for her. He is right that this ground favors him. After all, this is the terrain on which the #NeverTrump campaigners largely fought him, and they have failed. | There are important lessons to be learned from the many Republican candidates who rose to the bait and were decimated by Trump’s rhetoric. His monikers for them consistently had two effects: They pushed his foes off message and also forced them to fight on turf that Trump chose for them. Trump wants to rumble with Clinton in a battle of the sexes because he believes that it will be losing terrain for her. He is right that this ground favors him. After all, this is the terrain on which the #NeverTrump campaigners largely fought him, and they have failed. |
| How then ought Clinton to respond? | How then ought Clinton to respond? |
| First, she should let her surrogates do the work of responding to issues raised by Trump that would pull her off her core message. She should let her surrogates do the work of replacing his labels with her own. Personally, she should meet his insults with a cheery silence, or a lighthearted deflectionary joke. She needs to become Teflon — not to engage. | First, she should let her surrogates do the work of responding to issues raised by Trump that would pull her off her core message. She should let her surrogates do the work of replacing his labels with her own. Personally, she should meet his insults with a cheery silence, or a lighthearted deflectionary joke. She needs to become Teflon — not to engage. |
| [The dangerous nihilism of Trump voters] | |
| Second, each week, Clinton needs a message powerful enough to rival the rhetorical force of Trump’s own messages. How many of us can say what Ted Cruz’s or John Kasich’s messages have been in the past eight weeks? But we can all say what Trump’s have been. “The Republican primary process is rigged.” “The person who gets the most votes should get the nomination,” and so on. Clinton needs weekly messages that meet the moment and drive the conversation. | Second, each week, Clinton needs a message powerful enough to rival the rhetorical force of Trump’s own messages. How many of us can say what Ted Cruz’s or John Kasich’s messages have been in the past eight weeks? But we can all say what Trump’s have been. “The Republican primary process is rigged.” “The person who gets the most votes should get the nomination,” and so on. Clinton needs weekly messages that meet the moment and drive the conversation. |
| Third, and most important, Clinton needs to force Trump to fight on the ground he has claimed as his own. No one has yet forced him to do that. She needs to challenge him on the terrain he is seeking to defend. Rather than simply fighting for women and children, Clinton needs to fight Trump for the votes of men. His slogan is, “Make America Great Again.” Hers should be, “Make America Fair Again.” | Third, and most important, Clinton needs to force Trump to fight on the ground he has claimed as his own. No one has yet forced him to do that. She needs to challenge him on the terrain he is seeking to defend. Rather than simply fighting for women and children, Clinton needs to fight Trump for the votes of men. His slogan is, “Make America Great Again.” Hers should be, “Make America Fair Again.” |
| Can we be great without being fair? No we cannot. | Can we be great without being fair? No we cannot. |
| Do women want fairness? Yes. Do men want fairness? Yes. Do African American, Latino and Muslim Americans want fairness? Yes. Do white Americans want fairness? Yes. Do religious Americans want fairness? Yes. Do gay, lesbian and transgender Americans want fairness? Yes. | Do women want fairness? Yes. Do men want fairness? Yes. Do African American, Latino and Muslim Americans want fairness? Yes. Do white Americans want fairness? Yes. Do religious Americans want fairness? Yes. Do gay, lesbian and transgender Americans want fairness? Yes. |
| Is Trump ready to be fair? No. He’s a dirty fighter. That tells us all we need to know. | Is Trump ready to be fair? No. He’s a dirty fighter. That tells us all we need to know. |
| So my advice to Clinton is to take the fight to Trump. Pledge to make America fair again. After all, America the fair is America the beautiful, and America the beautiful is pretty great. Just remember how the song goes. Here’s the fifth verse : | So my advice to Clinton is to take the fight to Trump. Pledge to make America fair again. After all, America the fair is America the beautiful, and America the beautiful is pretty great. Just remember how the song goes. Here’s the fifth verse : |
| O beautiful for halcyon skies, | O beautiful for halcyon skies, |
| For amber waves of grain, | For amber waves of grain, |
| For purple mountain majesties | For purple mountain majesties |
| Above the enameled plain! | Above the enameled plain! |
| America! America! | America! America! |
| God shed his grace on thee | God shed his grace on thee |
| Till souls wax fair as earth and air | Till souls wax fair as earth and air |
| And music-hearted sea! | And music-hearted sea! |
| What’s more, America the fair, America the beautiful, is plainly against Donald Trump, the narcissist who lacks self-control and disrespects basic constitutional rights. Here’s a little bit more: | What’s more, America the fair, America the beautiful, is plainly against Donald Trump, the narcissist who lacks self-control and disrespects basic constitutional rights. Here’s a little bit more: |
| America! America! | America! America! |
| God mend thine every flaw, | God mend thine every flaw, |
| Confirm thy soul in self-control | Confirm thy soul in self-control |
| Thy liberty in law! | Thy liberty in law! |
| Read more on this topic: | Read more on this topic: |
| Ilya Somin: Why Hillary Clinton is the lesser evil than Donald Trump | |
| The Post’s View: A Trump reboot? Impossible. | |
| Richard Cohen: Trump should break the bad news to his supporters | Richard Cohen: Trump should break the bad news to his supporters |
| Eugene Robinson: Trump understood the voters the GOP forgot | Eugene Robinson: Trump understood the voters the GOP forgot |
| George F. Will: The GOP must keep Trump out of the White House |
Previous version
1
Next version