In
2018, President Trump has appeared at a number of rallies in support of fellow Republicans
seeking re-election in the upcoming midterm elections. What are his primary messages at these rallies? How are these messages similar to, and different
from, his talking points in the 2016 election? Who is his audience and in what ways
do his messages resonate with that audience? In your assessment, is he an effective
communicator? Finally, why do political rallies and “stump” campaigning remain
an important part of the political process? You must refer to at least one of
the textbook readings assigned for today (9/11) along with a second reading posted
on Blackboard for this week. You should also offer at least two examples of
rally communication messages/strategies to support your arguments.
Samantha Nardone (part 1)
ReplyDeletePresident Trump’s primary messages at the rallies have included the economy, immigration, the opioid crisis, foreign policy, and his victory with tax cuts. He also spends a lot of time talking about his victory over Clinton, the fake news media and anything that has been bugging him during the week. For example, at rallies in June and July, he was heavily focused on John McCain, North Korea and taking down the elites (Tucker, 2018)(Dawsey, 2018). This shifts from week to week. These messages are both similar and different from his campaign messages. While he is hitting the same general topics, the way he is talking about them is different. During the campaign we heard the same speech at every stop featuring the greatest hits, build the wall, banning Muslims, making America number one and lock Clinton up. While he still talks about these things at the rallies he is not as specific about his plans. The rallies are not really about the candidate he is there to support or even the midterm elections, they are more of a distraction for Trump and a way for his staff to get him off Twitter for a bit. It is also a way for Trump to reconnect with his base and to remind him that he has supporters even if the news is all negative.
Trump’s audiences for these rallies are his supporters. People that voted for him and are excited about his presidency. These are people he hopes to still have an influence over so he can persuade them to vote for the candidate he is there for. These are voters who share his feelings on his key messages such as immigration, the economy, and the fake news media. This is evident by which networks are covering the rallies. “Indeed, it (Fox) was the only cable news outlet to do so, and Fox really wanted you to know it. The channel put this unusual chyron onscreen beneath Trump: “Trump Rally Live & Only on Fox News. Other Networks Ignore Presidential Rally.” (Tucker, 2018) Tucker points out that most of the other cable news networks are not carrying the rallies, but that works to the advantage of Trump because his audience is not watching MSNBC or CNN.
Prior to the election, I would have said that Trump is a terrible communicator, because he is the polar opposite of past presidents when it comes to tone, vocabulary, and pace. However, looking back at the campaign it is clear that he is able to communicate his messages directly and effectively to his base. He is able to connect with people who have felt left behind because he knows what they want. He used dog whistle politics throughout the campaign and his presidency to assure his supporters that he has their interests at heart.
Samantha Nardone (part 2)
DeleteStumping remains an important part of campaigning because it puts the candidate in front of the voters to talk about the issues. It also gives the candidate the opportunity to interact with voters. Stump speeches, however; tend to be the same message over and over again. Small changes might be made to focus slightly more on the economy or immigration depending on where the stop takes place. Stumping is completely under the control of the campaign meaning it is up to them which states they visit, how many stops they make and to which counties. In the 2016 election, there was a major difference in the amount of stumping done by the two campaigns. According to Christopher J. Devme in his study Oh, the Places They’ll Go, “During the 102 days between the conclusion of both parties' conventions, on July 29, and Election Day, on November 7, Trump made at least one campaign visit on eighty, or 78.5 percent, of those days. Clinton made at least one campaign visit on forty-eighty days, only; that is, she spent a majority of days (51.9 percent) during the general election period not making campaign visits.” The number of stops Trump made, especially in swing states and counties kept his supporters excited leading up to the election and likely played a role in his win.
Works Cited:
Dawsey, J. (2018, June 25). In South Carolina rally, Trump targets Sanford, McCain and TV comedians. The Washington Post.
Devme, C.J. (2017).Oh, the Places They'll Go: The Geography and Political Strategy of Presidential Campaign Visits in 2016. In Studies of Communication in the 2016 Presidential Campaign (pp.45-68).
Tucker, K. (2018, June 21). Meltdown in Duluth: Trump yells at protesters and 'elites' at rally. Yahoo News.
DiSalvo part 1
ReplyDeletePrior to the 2016 election, rallies served as an integral part of Donald Trump’s campaign strategy. As many strategists predict a “blue wave” in the 2018 mid-terms, Trump is back on the campaign trail, this time in support of Republican congressional and gubernatorial candidates.
His primary messages at this year’s rallies are themes that excite and unite his base. He encourages his base to vote in November by threatening impeachment as a result of a blue wave. He says that his many accomplishments will be lost if Democrats take the House. He reminds them of his continued commitment to the border wall and leads chants of “Build That Wall.” He takes credit for a booming economy, that he claims will be reversed if his voters don’t turn out in November. At a rally in Montana he said, “…if it does happen, it’s you’re fault because you didn’t go out and vote.” He touts the American First promise through his trade policy. The Washington Post reported that at a South Carolina rally, “He accused Germany of ripping off the US with automobiles…” He continues to place blame elsewhere for America’s problems. Most notably, he blasts the “fake news.” He reassures himself, as much as his fans, that he is is still the man they elected two years ago.
These messages have many similarities to his messages during the 2016 campaign. In Katy Tur’s book Unbelievable, she relives being called out at a 2016 Trump rally for being a “Third rate reporter.” In his 2018 rallies, he is still criticizing the talent of journalists who report unfavorably on him. Secondly, in 2018, he still conveys a message of intolerance and disrespect for those who disagree with him. Tur writes about Trump’s reaction to a protest during a 2016 rally in which he “…admonishes the local South Carolina police officers to keep an eye on the rally.” During a 2018 rally in Minnesota, Trump yelled, “Go home to your mommy, darling! Get him out of here.” He then continued by insulting the protestor’s hair and ambiguous gender. The most interesting similarity between 2016 rallies and 2018 rallies is Trump’s persistent insulting of “Crooked Hilary” and other political rivals. It still seems like he is campaigning to be president, which could reflect internal insecurity about his position.
The most glaring difference between 2016 and 2018 campaigns is that he has to reluctantly acknowledge the candidate he is there to support. In a South Carolina rally he says, “Your governor is a man named Henry McMaster. I didn’t want to say that, Henry, I wanted to take credit for myself.” Secondly, he has a more desperate tone than at his 2016 rallies. A Washington Post article writes, “…the president turned a Pennsylvania rally to support Republican Senate candidate Lou Barlette into a Trumpian grieve-fest…” about the media. He seems to recognize the threat to his presidency and retaliates. Trump’s strategy has also changed since 2016. Based on analysis in “Oh the Places They’ll Go,” in the 2016 campaign, Trump used a peripheral campaign strategy focused on appealing to “persuadable voters.” Now, he employs a base strategy by campaigning in areas like South Carolina in which the Republican candidate was guaranteed to win. He likes the confidence-boost from returning to “Trump Country” and performing for his most loyal audience.
DiSalvo Part 2
ReplyDeleteHis current audience reflects the extremes of the Republican party, rather than the on-the-fence voters. Historically, those who vote in midterm elections represent the most ideological members of the party- in this case, those who are Trump loyalists. His platform and character are becoming so extreme that it is isolating everyone except for his most loyal supporters.
I do not support Trump, but he undeniably knows how to incite enthusiasm and passion in his followers. He makes them feel like part of a movement and appeals to their nationalistic tendencies. His supporters say, “He talks just like us”(Tur 80). To me, he doesn’t talk just like us. His rallies seem like a stream of consciousness without any thought or evidence. For example, at one rally he boasted about drawing larger crowds than Elton John: “So we break all of these records. Really we do it without like, the musical instruments. This is the only musical: the mouth. And hopefully, the brain is attached to the mouth. Right?” As a non-Trump supporter, I often wonder if the connection is intact. His communication skills are just as unappealing to “traditional conservatives…especially those who voted for another candidate in the primary”(Denton 31) as they were during the Republican convention. The “Never Trump” constituency prominent during the convention continues to grow. He is becoming more adept and uniting his base but remains consistently inept at appealing to those outside of it.
Rallies allow citizens to interact with politicians in an intimate way. It personalizes the government and distances politicians from the unpopular “establishment.” Since counties hold great importance in the electoral college, rallies allow presidents to localize their campaigns and target specific regions. Rallies can be beneficial for the politician who can gain new supporters who are swept up in the feeling of being part of a movement that is generated at a rally. Lastly, rallies have a key role in the midterms. They update supporters on a president’s positions and serve to maintain excitement in the off-season. It is unknown whether this tactic will work for Trump, but with the midterms less than 60 days away, he is striving to dye the wave red.
Choi, David. "Trump to His Supporters at Montana Rally: If I Get Impeached,
'it's Your Fault'.", 2018.
Dawsey, Josh. "in South Carolina Rally, Trump Targets Sanford, McCain and TV Comedians." Washington Post, 2018.
Devine, Christopher. "Oh the Places They'll Go." Campaign Visits and
Geographical Strategy. , 2016.
Holloway, Rachel L. "Midnight in America: The Political Conventions in 2016." The 2016 US Presidential Campaign. Edited by JR Robert E. Denton. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2017.
Rucker, Philip, Ashley Parker, and Robert Costa. "Trump at a Precarious Moment in His Presidency: Privately Brooding and Publicly Roaring." Washington Post, 2018.
Tucker, Ken. "Meltdown in Duluth - Trump Yells at Protesters and 'Elites' at Rally.", 21 June 2018, 2018.
Tur, Katy. ""She's Back there, Little Katy"." Unbelievable. HarperCollins, New York, 2017.
ReplyDeletePresident Trump has done something unusual – again – and has decided to start campaigning for his 2020 reelection as soon as possible. He has been on dozens of rallies in just this year, and the energy that comes from these rallies, there is denying, is electric. President Trump doesn’t approach rallies like your normal candidate, he is loud and aggressive, and it works for his supporters. In 2016 when Trump was running for the presidency his talking points centralized around what former presidents failed to do and on what his candidates were incapable of, now we see a difference in the narrative he sets at his rallies. What we can see now is President Trump is obsessed with his name in the news. He constantly brings up the fake media and any possible rumor floating around about him, and he directly and assuredly tells his supporters his side of the story. Although this is ironic, because according to the article Anatomy of a Trump Rally, almost everything he is saying is false and provides work for journalists for days with all the fact checking. As is well known, his rallies garner massive crowds, some comparable with that of a professional football game. So it’s interesting that he spits out so much information, a lot of which is false to a large crowd. In some ways, his talking points are similar because he did use this same tactic on the campaign trail in 2016. He spat out what seemed like preposterous information and it stuck to his supporters, and got their attention. Rally communication, as read about in Denton’s book, comes in many forms and is vital to the election process. Rally communication can be very effective, clearly, if presented by the right candidate. Many scholars argue Obama used micro-targeting to garner support during the election, well I will argue that Trump uses macro-targeting. He says the biggest, loudest, controversial statements, knowing that many people will disagree but an equitable amount might also agree, and he banks on that support. Rally communication remains an important part of our political campaign process because it allows for others to find other people who agree with them, and vice versa, it gives those who oppose an opportunity to protest.
The article from Yahoo! Entertainment states, ““Is there anything more fun than a Trump rally?” he asked — and there was a strained quality to his unceasing self-promotion. Toward the end, he interrupted his own thoughts to bellow, “It’s the greatest phrase, I think, in the history of American politics: Make America great again!” (Yahoo!). This is more indicative of his speaking style at his rallies. As previously stated, Trump makes a lot of direct remarks. He does the same when he is the subject of conversation as well it seems, as he takes a lot of opportunity during his recent rallies to bolster himself a bit more in the thick of all the “negative media” that criticizes his administration. His audience, greatly loyal to anything he says, believes that he is the point of information on everything, despite what the media may or may not attack and try to falsify. His audience is comprised of his supporters which are mostly conservative, evangelicals and blue collar workers. He is good at getting the audience involved at a rally, if you listen to any of his speeches at any rally, it is almost guaranteed that he will play and emphasize the reactions of the audience. His messages resonate with his audience because he is clever. He goes to these rallies on the premise “promises made, promises kept” but he only showcases the things which he was able to fully complete or fly through on, so its misrepresenting to them only they don’t think so. This is also an example of a rally communication tactic often used by politicians. Trump supporters, as I previously said, believe Trump, and that’s it.
References
DeleteAnalysis | Anatomy of a Trump rally: 76 percent of claims are false, misleading or lacking
evidence. (2018, July 10). Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/factchecker/wp/2018/07/10/anatomy-of-a-trump-rally-76-percent-of-claims-are-false-misleading-or-lacking-evidence/?utm_term=.90915f4c672a&wpisrc=nl_evening&wpmm=1
Tucker, K. (2018, June 21). Meltdown in Duluth: Trump yells at protesters and 'elites' at rally. Retrieved from https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/meltdown-duluth-trump-yells-protesters-elites-rally-130345147.html
E., D. J. (2017). The 2016 US Presidential Campaign Political Communication and Practice. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
BRIANNA CAPONI
The Republican National Convention in 2016 focused entirely on strategies that Trump proposed that were based off of the theme of Trump’s campaign, “Make America Great Again”. Each night, there would be a subtheme such as “Make America Safe Again” (this one focused on national security and military readiness), and “Make America Work Again” (focusing on Trump being a very successful businessman and wanting to share his secrets to make the country strong economically again). Although, this national convention was not nearly as organized as the press release for it proposed, somewhat like how some people view Trump’s messages at the rallies that he attends.
ReplyDeletePresident Trump’s primary messages at the rallies that he has appeared at in 2018 have focused on topics such as the economy, immigration laws, foreign policy, fake news, etc., and to ultimately “make America great again.” Although his talking points from the 2016 election are similar to the messages that he speaks out about during the rallies that he’s attended throughout 2018 thus far, his messages now are more “in your face” than ever. The way he speaks about the topics that were brought up by him in the 2016 presidential election now are just extremely more aggressive than before, by putting more of an emphasis on them. In the article “Trump colors the fall campaign landscape: ‘He’s been the only thing that matters’”, it clearly states that everything revolves around Trump, and that President Trump makes sure of this. Josh Holmes says, “ever since he came down the escalator to announce his presidential campaign, he’s been the only thing that matters in politics. His presidency is everywhere and your ability to nuance and message what doesn’t directly involve him is drowned out entirely by a complete avalanche of news and punditry and analysis of what the president is doing.”
President Trump’s audience are the extreme Republicans, or people that are known to be extremely loyal to Trump and his values, no matter what they are or how absurd they may be. These audiences that attend all of Trump’s rallies are his supporters that have stayed true to him while running for president and still are throughout his presidency. The reactions that Trump receives from his audience at these rallies are such a unique type of energy that one has never experienced before. People compare the energy that Trump’s rallies give off to the kind of energy that one would obtain from attending a rowdy football game or a rock concert. Although Trump doesn’t exactly make the these rallies about the specific candidate that he is supposed to be supporting, he makes sure that he can be influential enough to his audience to hopefully persuade them to vote for that candidate anyway just because he is the one supporting them during these rallies.
Personally, I think that Trump’s communication skills are spectacular. Although President Trump tends to rant and uses ridiculous vocabulary and tone in his rants (especially on his Twitter), Trump is more than able to communicate his messages clearly and effectively to his audiences. His supporters are so invested in the messages that Trump relays to the public because they truly believe that he has their best interest in mind. After all, prior to even being in politics, Trump was a media star.
I believe that “stump” campaigning and/or rallies remains an important part of the political process because it gives the candidate the chance to address the issues that are going on in the world around them in front of the voters, therefore giving the candidate to opportunity to sway the voters by connecting with them on a more personal level.
Works Cited:
Holloway, Rachel L. “Midnight in America: The Political Conventions in 2016.” The 2016 US Presidential Campaign. Edited by JR Robert E. Denton. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2017.
Parker, Ashley and Philip Rucker. "Trump colors the fall campaign landscape: ‘He’s been the only thing that matters.’" Washington Post, 9 Sept. 2018.
Kaycie Romanello
ReplyDeleteSince Trump was elected in 2016, he has traveled around to host a variety of rallies. During these rallies he has hit different talking points, but primarily, he works with the topic of “fake news.” When Trump started his campaign for the 2016 election, he mostly focused on issues that were occuring. For example, debt, wars and immigration were all talking points for Trump during the election. Now, things have shifted.
At his rallies, Trump seems to have increased his comfort and confidence levels. This could be because he feels more comfortable with his audience or the fact that he is the president of our country. In other words, yes, Trump always had a blunt personality, but after he was elected, this trait for him escalated. Yahoo wrote an article about Trump’s rally in Dulith, Minnesota, and stated that Trump pinpointed a protester during the rally. “Go home to your mommy, darling! Get him outta here. Out! Was that a man or a woman? Because he needs a haircut more than I do,” Trump said at the Dulith rally. In my opinion, this is different than his election speeches because he did not show as much confidence. Yes, Trump would speak out about the protestors, but it was never about questioning the gender of a human being. On the other hand, the only similarity between the election speeches and Trump now at his rallies is that he speaks about the fake news and immigration. I think multiple people can agree that Trump always focused on immigration and kicking illegal immigrants out of our country, and this hasn't changed. For example, at the Dulith rally, Trump brought up how there is $1.6 billion already saved to build the wall. Even if people do not agree with this idea, at least Trump is doing as he promised during his 2016 campaign. Trump also uses a communication strategy of comparing us to other countries. At the Montana rally, Trump said we are paying 4% GDP to NATO while Germany, who is one of the most important EU countries, only pays 1%. Personally, I enjoy this comparing strategy because it allows people to strictly see what America is dealing with. Although many people do not agree with Trump’s decisions, at least he is sticking to his word from what he promised during the election.
As for Trump’s audience, I would say he has an intense crowd behind him. At the rallies, you can see how impactful the audience is with Trump. In my opinion, it is as if the audience enhances Trump’s comments. The crowd stands there and chants negative things such as, “Lock her up,” and “CNN sucks.” Because the crowd is chanting things that are agreeing to what Trump says, I think this boosts Trump’s confidence and allows him to target protestors more freely. In the book entitled The 2016 US Presidential Campaign Political Communication and Practice by Robert E. Denton, Jr., they relate the republican convention to reality television: “Media analysts described the Republican Convention as ‘a bit more chaotic than usual’ and ‘compelling as a train wreck,’ making the obvious comparisons to reality television” (Denton 24). This is another reason as to why I believe that the audience loves these rallies. They see Trump calling out people who do not agree with them and frankly, this reminds me of the show Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Whenever something does not go their way on the show, they always speak up about it instead of trying to fix it. I think it is more of a whining emotion rather than a “take it like a man” scenario. Through the chants, cheering and Trump clothing, I believe that the audience takes these rallies as a way of improving the nation.
Furthermore, I do not believe that Trump is an effective communicator. I do think that the facts and statistics showing what he wants to get done while he is in office are effective, but that is it. The rallies seem to be too focused on shunning protestors that they do not end successfully with how Trump is doing as president. There is so much about fake news and people lying about Trump that it is as if he forgets to talk about why he is truly at the rallies.
DeleteOverall, campaigning and rallies are very important for a president. I think that the audience should be updated constantly about what the government is doing to the country. The political rallies are a way for the president to inform the present ideas that are forming in office. As for the “stump” campaigning, this is also very important. In my opinion, this shows structure to a speech. It allows the speaker to think about it beforehand to make sure that nothing moves out of proportion. I appreciate the stump campaigning and rallies because they give the people of this country chances to participate in the government.
Denton, Robert E. The 2016 US Presidential Campaign Political Communication and Practice. Switzerland, Springer International Publishing, 2017.
Tucker, Ken. “Meltdown in Duluth: Trump yells at protesters and 'elites' at rally.” Yahoo, 21 June 2018. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/meltdown-duluth-trump-yells-protesters-elites-rally-130345147.html. Accessed 10 September 2018.
“WATCH: Trump hosts political rally in Montana.” Youtube, Uploaded by PBS NewsHour, 5 July 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2386&v=J-bTwWuQDIY.
Brian Hanslin
ReplyDeleteWithin Trumps midterm rallies there has been a great focus on subjects such as economy, border control and trade policies. Recently Trump has even discussed impeachment at a rally, yet he confidently scoffed at the idea, questioning how he could get impeached if he has done nothing but good things. These rallies leave Trump supporters waiting on his every word, but what is Trump really saying? At a rally in Montana, Trump made “45 false or mostly false statements, 25 misleading statements and four unsupported claims. We also counted 24 accurate or mostly accurate statements. False or mostly false statements alone accounted for 46 percent of all claims.” (Rizzo, Kelly) For someone who claims fake news on a regular basis, this seems to be quite hypocritical. As someone who does not closely follow politics by choice, I did not watch the 2016 election very closely whatsoever, and seeing how it was such a controversial time in our history, nearly dividing the country into two halves, I am fairly glad I chose not to pick a side. But if those statistics are true, I am glad I did not pay close attention, as I’m sure that this is not the first time Trump has rattled off nonsense to his supporters. Trump knows exactly what he is doing as well. He knows that at these rallies, people come just to see him speak, these are his supporters, they want to cheer for him. They want to agree with what he says. They want to believe what he says, which is why he knows he can in a way get away with saying pretty much whatever he wants, and get little to no punishment aside from those who already dislike him. He knows that he really won’t be able to win over people more left oriented, so why not tell the people who are willing to listen what they want to hear? Trump is a very efficient communicator of what he wants to communicate. What I mean by that is that he is very vocal of what he wants to talk about and what he believes, whether that be the truth or not, he has people that will listen and better yet believe. These rallies are critical for Trump as it allows him in a very significant way to keep a sense of control over those who support him. Going from place to place preaching to the choir keeps the people happy. Trump knows that left winged people are not buying what he has to say, so why bother marketing to them in the first place? While the 2016 election was such a significant election in American history, it is important that I answer questions that I do have. From what I have read and seen from Trump at recent rallies, I begin to wonder if Trump has always had this sense of confidence. It is quite apparent to me that the answer to that question is simply yes. Trump is still talking about building the wall, still takes to Twitter every moment he can.
Works cited:
“Analysis | Anatomy of a Trump Rally: 76 Percent of Claims Are False, Misleading or Lacking Evidence.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 10 July 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/07/10/anatomy-of-a-trump-rally-76-percent-of-claims-are-false-misleading-or-lacking-evidence/?utm_term=.65a448ed0fbe&wpisrc=nl_evening&wpmm=1.
Sophia Toppo
ReplyDeleteWhether it is a Trump rally in 2016 or 2018, his message to “Make America Great Again” still rings loud through the crowds. His main points through out the Republican National Conventions about foreign policy, economics, and illegal immigration are still messages he discuses during the rallies for the re-election of fellow republicans. At these rallies Trump continues to stress his promise for a safer, secure border and a thriving economy that would increase our jobs, because whenever trump has the opportunity to be in front of a crowd, he takes it. The thunderous reaction he gets from his audience fuels his progression towards “Making America Great Again.” His audience is always people who agree with him and are strong supporters of his promises he makes for America. According to an article in the Washington Post, “…Trump has been traveling mostly to states he carried in the 2016 election”(Parker, Rucker 2018). He knows where he can get the reaction he wants from his audience, so he continues to rally in the places he knows he is greatly supported. He knows what the audience wants to hear from experience in the 2016 campaign, so when he speaks during these rallies now, he is successful in dominating the crowd by expressing his same messages in a more aggressive and powerful way. The reactions and constant chants in favor of Trump from the crowd prove that these people who voted for Trump are still standing by his side today. He gains this reaction because of the way he presents himself and the different strategies he uses through out his rallies.
During his campaign, Trump gained plenty of success due to his travel strategies. A study demonstrating campaign strategies stated, “…Republicans made campaign visits a central element of their strategy…Trump and Pence made 50% more campaign visits…Trump, in particular, was exceptionally successful at using these events to communicate campaign messages to voters”(Devine 2018). Despite what most people believe that Trump has awful character and is inexperienced for the job, he still managed to gain the attention and support of many states, thus leading to his victory. Not only did his travel strategies help him win the election, but also Trumps reasoning for why he’ll make America great again not only attracted attention, but was also convincing. In the book, The 2016 US Presidential Campaign, Trump stated, “The problem we face now, poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad, will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them in the first place”(Denton, 66). He is referring to the Democratic Party, and by saying this he is demonstrating that America needs to change its leadership in order to fix all of the problems we have undergone through the last presidency. By saying this, he has his audience supporting him with hopes that there will be progress and opportunity in the future.
DeleteTo sum up, political rallies and stump campaigning play a very important role in the political process because it allows the candidates to spread their messages to a large audience and gain their supporters. This is how the voters decide who they want to vote for, based on what the candidates have to say about the issues in the world. The rallies in the 2016 election are evidently important because we were able to see a man who was seen as inexperienced and immature by some become the President of the United States.
Denton, Robert E. The 2016 US Presidential Campaign Political Communication and Practice. Switzerland, Springer International Publishing, 2017.
Devine, Christopher J. "Oh the Places They'll Go: The Geography & Political Strategy of Presidential Campaign Visits in 2016." Studies of Communication in the 2016 Presidential Campaign, Lexington Books, 2018, pp. 45 - 68.
Parker, Ashley and Philip Rucker. "Trump colors the fall campaign landscape: ‘He’s been the only thing that matters.’" Washington Post, 9 Sept. 2018.
Jeffrey Evans
ReplyDeletePresident Trump has had a lot of success with having rallies and he really thrives off of the energy that his supporters give him. His messages at his rallies have varied from many different topics, bringing up things prior presidents never accomplished, building a wall to “fix” the immigration problem, etc. However, since he became president his topics have took a bit of turn away from these policies. Now, he talks a lot more about “fake news” and issues that he feels he has at the time of the rally. He uses name calling, harsher language and things of that nature to bring down whoever his “opponent” is and this weirdly excites his supporters even more. As I stated before, during his election he didn’t really talk about the same issues but what stayed the same was how he delivered these messages to the public. His tone and language has always been the same and that is something that really has helped him gain more support. A great example of this is "His supporters tell us they like this. They believe it is a wise decision. And they believe Donald Trump is going to keep them safe. Why? In our latest MSNBC poll we found that 60 percent of Republican voters say that one of their biggest concerns is being the victim of a terrorist attack."(Tur 78). His supporters believe in what he is saying and with this strong approach it makes them feel secure in a way. However, this has also brought the other side of the political world to hate him more and question why he is still president because of the way he talks and handles many situations.
I believe that Presidents Trump’s main audience at these rallies are his main supporters, the people who voted for him and still believe in him. Like stated before, his message sticks with his followers because they are the people that feel that immigration is a big problem, that are pro NRA, and that agree with most of his other policies. I believe that Trump in a weird way is a great communicator. It may not be the “nicest” way to get across to people but some way it has worked for him. Obviously he has to be in some way a great communicator because he is our president and millions of people voted in his favor. I believe that because he is so overly confident, and interacts with his audience, that it makes them trust him more than a normal candidate. However, many other people have tried this approach and they have not had the same effect as Trump, so this is why I believe he is indeed a good communicator.
Finally, I believe that rallies are a very important in the political process because it connects the president or whoever is talking to fan base directly. It allows the people to see it in person, to hear it in person and that makes all the difference. With President Trump having such a loyal fan base, it allows him to get them re-excited for things he has talked about in the past, and allows them to regain that trust again if it was ever lost. Rallying is one of the things I believe extremely helped Trump win the 2016 election. Ken Tucker stated “President Trump felt a need to be loved again, so he did what he always does when he needs love — he left his house and did a campaign rally.” (Tucker 2018). These rallies allow the president to regain the feeling of “love” again and this sparks energy in a lot of people around this country.
Work Cited
Tucker, Ken. “Meltdown in Duluth: Trump Yells at Protesters and 'Elites' at Rally.” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 21 June 2018, www.yahoo.com/entertainment/meltdown-duluth-trump-yells-protesters-elites-rally-130345147.html.
Tur, Katy. ""She's Back there, Little Katy"." Unbelievable. HarperCollins, New York, 2017.
Lindsey Guadagni
ReplyDeleteSince 2016, Donald Trump's political rallies have been a huge success and have had a great impact on his audience because of his communication strategies. President Donald Trump has appeared at a number of rallies in support of fellow Republicans and has made his messages clear. His messages mostly entail a booming economy, securing the border wall, trade war wins, fake news, and about the space force. These messages are fairly similar to the same ones in the 2016 election, the economy, securing the border wall and fake news are the classic Donald Trump rally topics. Donald Trump was and still is a big fan of roaring up a crowd and being the center of attention. One thing I can honestly say is that Donald Trump definitely brought a new crowd to political rallies. Donald Trump's celebrity background and fiery mouth have the crowds becoming larger than ever at political rallies. The crowd feeds off of his punchlines like "build that wall" and "CNN sucks". The messages Trump resonates with the audience is that he may do things differently, but he is an effective communicator to the general less educated crowd, therefore, Donald Trump is an effective communicator. One good strategy Trump uses is that he loves to address the rumors that the media has about him and tell his own side of the rumor. Donald Trump wants his voters to support other Republican Senate candidates so that the Republicans have the majority in the Senate. According to the Washington Post, "On Thursday night, the president turned a Pennsylvania rally to support Republican Senate candidate Lou Barletta into a Trumpian grieve-fest, returning repeatedly to his favorite foil — the "fake, fake, disgusting news," as he bellowed — to portray himself as a victim of chronically unfair coverage from "horrible, horrendous people."(Rucker, 2018).1 This was a good strategy in my opinion because of the fact that Trump supporters love seeing him a victim of fake news. Donald Trump loves to please a crowd, therefore he will say lines he thinks are catchy and his supports will repeat and once he thinks something has stuck like his well-known name calling he will repeat to please the said crowd. This is one of this many influential, yet effective strategies to roar the crowd. Donald Trump's rally "identity" is rough and tough in my opinion. According to Rachel L. Holloway " The convention (and campaign) messages, at the highest level, construct competing conceptions of national identity"(Holloway,2017). 2 I believe this quote is so spot on correct with politicians and they way they can and will portray themselves during rallies and other broadcasted events. "Stump" campaigning is an effective strategy for politicians because it gives them a chance to talk to there voters and supports about issues they want to address. Politicians can get the audience excited about what they want to do and are doing in office and influence said audience to vote for the senators they believe in. In my opinion, I think that Trump is just trying to get people excited and try to keep a strong base. We will see if it works in about 60 days when midterm elections arrive.
1 Rucker, Philip, et al. "Trump at a Precarious Moment in His Presidency: Privately Brooding and Publicly Roaring." The Washington Post, WP Company, 5 Aug. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-at-a-precarious-moment-in-his-presidency-privately-brooding-and-publicly-roaring/2018/08/04/4b463842-9736-11e8-810c-5fa705927d54_story.html.
2 Holloway, Rachel L. "Midnight in America: The Political Conventions in 2016." The 2016 US Presidential Campaign. Edited by JR Robert E. Denton. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2017.
A Donald Trump rally can be compared to a tailgate or a football game. They are loud, aggressive and to some, very exciting. This energy fuels Trump as he goes along. Rallies are created with many intricate details along with many strategies planned behind them. Each candidate has the same amount of time to campaign, however, one’s budget can determine how much advertising and promoting can be done. Some of Donald Trump’s main messages at his election rallies were immigration laws, economic policies, foreign policies and tax cuts he was going to implement. Trump has also attended other republican rallies this year to show support, along with discussing some of his own content. Trump keeps at least part of his focus on the candidate he is there in support of and usually introduces them. “The president turned a Pennsylvania rally to support Republican Senate candidate Lou Barletta into a Trumpian grieve-fest, returning repeatedly to his favorite foil — the “fake, fake, disgusting news,” as he bellowed — to portray himself as a victim of chronically unfair coverage from “horrible, horrendous people” (Rucker, Costa and Parker, 2018). At the Republican rallies Trump has been attending, he is showing the American people of what the Trump administration has done in such a short period of time (Lewandowski, 2018). The audiences are his supporters and other Republican supporters. The talking points at the midterm election rallies are more focused on current events. For example, he has discussed border patrol, fake news and gun laws. These messages resonate with his supporters because he continues to be blunt and do as he pleases. He makes sure to discuss everything he wants to, even if it is a controversial issue. Trump will say anything, even if it is incorrect or not going to happen, just to get the crowd going. “Trump summarized the arguments simply, “the problems we face now, poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad, will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them in the first place. A change in leadership is required to produce a change in outcomes” (Denton). The problems he addresses, partly due to his own policies, are still happening. At the recent campaigns, Trump was angered more by protesters than normal. Recently, campaigns are the only areas he can find support due to all of the problems in the White House. (Tucker, 2018). I would say Trump is an effective communicator. I say this because the energy at his rallies are unreal. He is blunt and says how he feels regardless of the outcome. He gets through to people because he does not sugar coat anything. Stump campaigning and political rallies are still an important part of the political process because it allows people to understand the candidates’ message. The only issue with stump campaigning is that the speeches they give are repetitive. They usually shape the entirety of the campaign. Stump campaigning and rallies allow voters to witness the candidates talk about their issues openly. A strategy the candidates use is to campaig in the swing states. This allows people to get both Democratic and Republican views if they are unsure who to vote for. Also, dog whistle politics were used. This is when political messages mean one thing to the public, but have a deeper or different meaning to a targeted group. For example, when Trump discussed the violence in Charlottesville and giving police more military weapons, it was a way of addressing crime and violence without discussing the racial components involved.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited:
Rucker, Philip, Robert Costa, and Ashley Parker. "Trump at a Precarious Moment In His Presidency: Privately Brooding and Publicly Roaring." Washington Post, 5 Aug. 2018.
Tucker, Ken. "Meltdown in Duluth - Trump Yells at Protesters and 'Elites' at Rally." Yahoo News, 21 June 2018.
Denton Jr., Robert E., ed. The 2016 U.S. Presidential Campaign: Political Communication and Practice. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2017.
Blog #2
ReplyDeleteIt is no secret that President Trump is a fan of the spotlight, and many political analysts would say that he thrives under the spotlight of his rallies. During the 2016 campaign, then Candidate-Trump was able to get his message out to supporters through his Twitter and cross country rallies. Many people who have attended a Trump rally will say that it is unlike any political rally they have ever been too. Even quoting that the atmosphere is similar to a concert or sporting event. Trump’s message to supporters varied at times, but his overall agenda remained the same. Chants of “fake news” and “build a wall” remained consistent throughout the campaign trail. Trump’s rare use of a teleprompter while giving speeches at rallies allowed for him to go on a tangent about any topic that he wanted. Illegal immigration, economic growth and draining the swamp are the ideologies which got most of his supporters fired up.
Fast forward to the 2018 midterm elections and President Trump is holding rallies in record numbers. The republican party hopes that if Trump can go out to these rallies and fire people up they will have a good shot at getting Republican candidates elected for the midterms. The president’s messages remain similar to those on the 2016 campaign trail with slight modifications. He will still point out certain news networks covering the rally and call them “fake news.” This is a phrase that the president branded in his 2016 campaign, and has become a consistent point at almost every rally. Trump’s consistent use of the phrase over the last two years resonates with his audience because it appears as though he is an everyday man speaking the truth to citizens outside of Washington D.C.
Midterm rallies are advantageous for the Republican candidates running for congressional chairs, and the president himself. With the 2020 election right around the corner it is wise to assume that the president is gearing up for another term by consistently speaking to his supporters at these rallies. The target audience for many Trump rallies are people in farming territories of America. Many people who lost their factory jobs in states such as West Virginia due to downsizing and technological advances felt abandoned by previous political leaders in the White House. Trump’s promises of refurnishing the coal industry, and bringing jobs back from China were the main reasons why citizens in key swing states such as Pennsylvania decided to vote for him.
DeleteThe article entitled, “One hates Trump. The other loves him. Two West Virginians wait for the president to come to town” by Greg Jaffe and Jenna Johnson states, “Before sunrise the next morning, Trump merchandise vendors peddling ‘CNN Sucks’ T-shirts and ‘Make America Great Again’ hats were setting up their tents near the Charleston Civic Center, where the president would be speaking.” Clearly Trump’s messages have resonated with a vast majority of people attending rallies across the country. Currently, the talking points that have changed for Trump since the 2016 campaign are his rhetoric towards his accomplishments. For the most part, when Trump delivers a speech at a midterm rally he spends a majority of the time talking about his own successes such as economic numbers, but completely disregards the actual candidate he is supposed to be speaking in favor of.
Personally, I do view Trump as an effective communicator for his base. He ran on the principle that he was not a typical politician, and that he would speak his mind. Trump’s base loves him because they believe that he is genuine when he delivers a speech. The book entitled ‘The 2016 US Presidential Campaign’ by Robert E. Denton, JR. states, “Media analysts described the Republican Convention as ‘a bit more chaotic than usual’ and ‘compelling as a train wreck,’ making the obvious comparisons to reality television.” Trump’s ability to rally a crowd behind him and present himself as just an average American worker makes his base even fonder of him.
Political rallies are necessary with regards to campaigning, and are an extremely important factor in the political process. Holding rallies in areas of the country where Trump’s base is prominent allows people to feel connected to the president. He claimed to never forget about his base on the 2016 campaign trail, and his way of showing gratitude is by visiting and holding rallies for his supporters. This all works into his marketability factor; being that he is just another guy on the street, and symbolically will not forget about the voters who put him in office.
Works Cited
Jaffe, Greg, and Jenna Johnson. “One Hates Trump. The Other Loves Him. Two West Virginians Wait for the President to Come to Town.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 23 Aug. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/one-hates-trump-the-other-loves-him-two-west-virginians-wait-for-the-president-to-come-to-town/2018/08/23/f9fade20-a61c-11e8-97ce-cc9042272f07_story.html?utm_term=.80249ee6565c.
Denton, Robert. “The 2016 US Presidential Campaign - Political Communication and Practice | ROBERT E. DENTON | Palgrave Macmillan.” The Transformative Potential of Performance | Alex Flynn | Palgrave Macmillan, Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2017, www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319525983.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletePART 1 Charlotte Gardner
ReplyDeleteWhen viewing the 2018 Trump rally in Ohio in support of Republican candidate, Troy Balderson, it was very easy to spot the surface-level tactics that Trump used. Many of the communicative tactics he used, were the same as his previous campaign elections because they manipulated the conversation to be focused on himself. This way of steering the rallies makes it easy for Trump to gain support and confidence from the audience as their beliefs in him are continuously reinforced by his statements. For instance, in his rally supporting Balderson, Trump recalls the other Republican candidates that have been elected who have supported him in the past. When referencing these figures and their accomplishments in their position, he always adds a compliment about himself after their praise. The audience is constantly reminded of how successful he claims to be which adds to their confidence in supporting him. This technique is similar to his past election rallies where he also speaks about himself very highly during his rallies, as a way to boast his character to the audience. Another communicative skill he uses is to get the crowds as involved in the rally as he can. He does this not by having them speak, but by having them chant after he tactfully says specific “trigger” words. In his rally in Ohio, Trump makes a comment about fakes news, and almost instantly the crowd begins chanting “CNN sucks” in repetition. Trump is very aware of how he can make the crowd say these chants because he uses those phrases specifically to get a reaction. In his election rallies, he would do this as well by having the crowd chant things like “Make America great again” and “Build the wall”. These reactions are also in a collectively negative connotation, which Rudy Giuliani used in one of his speeches to introduce Trump, “Giuliani’s intense and highly presentation energized the delegates. They cheered and jeered throughout the speech” (36, Holloway). Usually, people are easier to engage if they are mad about something, so this appeal makes sense.
PART 2 Charlotte Gardner
DeleteOne last tactic he uses is to make the crowd feel empowered because they voted for him. Trump refers to his supporters as the “elite” and even goes so far as to say that since he became president “You [Trump supporters] became president”. This same phrase, “elite”, was also used at his rally in Duluth, MN: “At another point, his stream-of-consciousness riffing led him to this nugget about his perceived enemies: ‘They always call the other side ‘the elites.’ Why are they the elite? I have a much better apartment than they do. I’m smarter than they are. I’m richer than they are. I became president and they didn’t.’ Aside from being the sort of childish brag a child would be embarrassed to be caught saying, does someone actually need to tell Trump it’s his side that calls liberals ‘the elite’?” (Tucker). Because Trump knows how to work his audiences so well, I would say he is an effective communicator to his audiences; people that are already on his side. From my perspective as a supporter of anyone but Trump, this kind of communication comes off as narcissistic and ineffective because he doesn’t discuss anything besides himself. This brings me to the messages of his rallies. The message of his rallies is clouded under his array of insults and empty promises and stands to be relatively the same in each rally: My way or the highway- essentially. He praises his beliefs to an extreme and disgraces any and all that differ from his own. Trump’s stump speeches are perfect for his audience because he caters to his main focuses as president which his audience strongly supports. Addressing hard-hitting topics like building the wall and endorsing far-right candidates are what his supporters want to hear because that is mostly the basis of their vote for Trump. However, none of these things have been accomplished, so Trump’s speeches are just repeated without any meaning if nothing he says is being enforced.
Works Cited:
Holloway, Rachel L. "Midnight in America: The Political Conventions in 2016." The 2016 US Presidential Campaign. Edited by JR Robert E. Denton. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2017.
Tucker, Ken. "Meltdown in Duluth - Trump Yells at Protesters and 'Elites' at Rally." Yahoo News, 21 June 2018.
Since the day he announced that he was running for president, Donald Trump has done an exemplary job of conveying his message to voters. He does not just state his message, but he fires up the Republican party’s base in taboo ways. Originally, in 2016 Trump emphasized the need for more national security and send people back to work to bolster the economy. All in all, Trump “… promised to ‘Make America Great Again,’ to get the nation back on a track of prosperity and security” (Denton 66). His mantra was clear and concise from the beginning, and conservative voters ate it up. His presence on the campaign trail made him all the more desirable to battleground states. Between the Republican Convention and Election Day, “Trump made at least one campaign visit on eighty, or 78.5 percent, of those days” (Devine 50). Trump’s aggressive approach to rallies on the campaign trail ultimately led him to victory, and he continues to appear at rallies today to keep the base fired up.
ReplyDeleteAt his rallies, Trump’s supporters become pumped up and raucous like they are at rock concert. What made him so likeable? President Trump found the perfect formula to connect with his voter base. His audience is mostly made up of working class voters who desire change, like West Virginian bus driver Paul Cochran, whose story is detailed in the Washington Post’s article, One hates Trump. The other loves him. Two West Virginians wait for the president to come to town. Trump was able to connect with West Virginians by starting out his rally talking about issues that pressed them the most and in a more casual manner than most politicians. At the rally, Trump, “… riffed for a bit on coal miners, calling them ‘great people, brave people,’ and Cochran tried to help his friend understand why Trump appealed to him. ‘He talks to you like you’re a regular guy, a normal person’ Cochran said. ‘If he’s going to say the hell with it, he’ll say the hell with it’” (Jaffe and Johnson 7). President Trump is able to attract support from voters by specifically talking about issues that pertain most to them. His casual nature (or lack of eloquence) is what keeps voters ensnared in what he has to say because it separates him from career politicians that people are tired of. After he draws in his crowd, Trump then gets to his personal federal agenda: “Trump moved to his greatest hits — the Latino gang MS-13, his decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, North Korea, the economy, immigration law and then the ‘fake news.’” (Jaffe and Johnson 7). Today, Trump has gained new talking points besides the ones he used on the campaign trail. He focuses more on the “fake news media” that’s been attacking him, and he is also talking more about international trading. These messages seem to compound on his ones from 2016 in a sense that he is using them to keep media coverage focused on him.
Trump would not be president if he did not master rallying. As described in Oh, the Places They'll Go: The Geography and Political Strategy of Presidential Campaign Visits in 2016, Trump both directly and indirectly heeded his campaign message to voters through rallies (Devine 65). Rallying, like stump campaigning, is so important because it acts as a politician’s way to communicate directly with voters. Trump excels at conveying his message on a personal level, so his campaign would be a fraction as effective if his most used form of communication was social media, for example.
Works Cited
DeleteThe 2016 US Presidential Campaign : Political Communication and Practice, edited by Jr, Robert E. Denton, Palgrave Macmillan US, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/quinnipiac/detail.action?docID=4922011.
Devine, Christopher. "Oh the Places They'll Go." Campaign Visits and
Geographical Strategy.2016.
Jaffe, Greg, and Jenna Johnson. “One Hates Trump. The Other Loves Him. Two West Virginians Wait for the President to Come to Town.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 23 Aug. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/one-hates-trump-the-other-loves-him-two-west-virginians-wait-for-the-president-to-come-to-town/2018/08/23/f9fade20-a61c-11e8-97ce-cc9042272f07_story.html?utm_term=.b7f20f07557a&wpisrc=nl_politics&wpmm=1.
Unlike any other president in the history of our country, Donald Trump has been hitting the campaign trail since the moment he stepped foot in office. From the initial rallies that were simply based around him, to the newest iterations of rallies, which are supposed to be centered around fellow Republicans, Trump has consistently appeared in front of crowds of adoring fans throughout the presidency. The messages, however, are rarely focused on anything other than himself, regardless of what the rally is supposed to be for. Instead, President Trump uses the platform as a chance to silence his critics, and feel loved again: “It was as though Trump resented any disruption in the last place he can get unconditional love anymore — he feels beleaguered in the current state of his presidency,” (Tucker 2018). The story recounts how two protesters were forcibly removed from the premises as Trump stared them down. The mood of his rallies has changed a bit.
ReplyDeleteWhile the crowds are still aggressive and passionate (most would say to a fault), there are stark differences from those he orchestrated during the 2016 campaign. His rallies of two years ago were filled with insults and “shooting from the hip comments,” the likes of which we had never seen before: “While the orthodox candidates’ carefully crafted personae were strategically (and sometimes heavy-handedly) deployed, Trump took a shotgun approach towards destroying them,” (Denton 2017). The nicknames flew: Crooked Hillary, Little Marco, the list goes on. The difference, however, is the tone of the rallies. In 2016, the attendees were excited about the concept of change; that they had finally found someone to challenge the long-standing Establishment. In 2018, the tone has morphed into a “Trump vs. the world” atmosphere. Trump and his followers are out for blood. Whether it be the “fake news” networks, or just the Democratic Party in general, if you’re not with Trump, then you’re an enemy of the state. It’s switched from passion to a metaphorical thirst for blood.
Trump’s audience are the aforementioned group of people; those disillusioned by the government’s decisions over the past eight years, and those looking for a major shake-up at the White House. Trump’s message has been the same since he started campaigning for 2016. The man wants to make drastic changes, and the followers who identify with him do so for the exact same reason.
The term effective communicator is such a broad term, and I want to clarify what I mean. In one sense, Donald Trump is an extremely effective communicator. He knows exactly what will rile up his followers, and knows exactly what buttons he has to push in order to get a movement started. His rhetoric-laced sentences and slogans may have very little meaning, but they get the attention of every American who has grown tired of the Establishment ruling over the common man. In another sense, however, Donald Trump is also ignorant in his communication. When it comes to actually stringing together coherent, logical thoughts and strategies, Trump falters. While his views on immigration have some merit, his use of “build a wall” as a blanket term de-legitimize any constructive ideas he has to most people. So, his rhetoric is a blessing, but also a curse.
Regardless, there will always be a place for rallies and stump campaigning in politics. People see an energized crowd, they hear a rhetoric-laced speech, and if they like what they see, then they’ll come to the polls. It’s traditional, and somewhat old-fashioned, but an effective rally can change an election in a given state.
E., Denton Jr Robert. The 2016 US Presidential Campaign Political Communication and Practice. Springer International Publishing, 2017.
DeleteTucker, Ken. “Meltdown in Duluth: Trump Yells at Protesters and 'Elites' at Rally.” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 21 June 2018, www.yahoo.com/entertainment/meltdown-duluth-trump-yells-protesters-elites-rally-130345147.html.
Kevin G. Slattery
ReplyDeleteProfessor Lisa Burns
Strategic Communication in the Trump Era
10 September 2018
Blog Post #2
For the most part, Donald Trump is still focused on how he has made America great again. Trump has discussed how his tough stance on immigration has deterred undocumented immigrants from entering the United States. He also has discussed how foreign countries have more respect for the United States because his administration is negotiating better trade deals and agreements with other nations. However, most recently at his campaign rallies where he has attempted to garner adulation from the public, Trump has been yelling at protesters in his rallies (Tucker 1). At a campaign rally in Duluth, Minnesota, Trump said, “Get’em outta here”, as security guards ejected protesters from the rally (Tucker 1). During the same campaign rally, Trump also bashed the “elites” who have opposed or have sided against him (Tucker 1). Trump said, “They always call the other side `the elites. ` Why are they the elite? I have a much better apartment than they do. I’m smarter than they are. I’m richer than they are. I became President and they didn’t.” (Tucker 1). These outbursts showcase how Trump has allowed critics to get the best of him, even at campaign rallies where most of the people there adore him. Trump has also been very critical of other celebrities and political figures. At a campaign rally in West Columbia, South Carolina, Trump criticized Arnold Schwarzenegger for his bad TV ratings as host of the Apprentice and continued to criticize Senator John McCain (Dawsey 1). Trump also bashed Republican Representative Mark Sanford for having an extramarital affair and then lying to the public about the affair not happening (Dawsey 3). In many ways, Trump’s critical rhetoric of other political figures is very similar to his rhetoric when he was a candidate for president. As he accepted the Republican nomination at the Convention in Cleveland, then-candidate Trump said, “So if you want to hear the corporate spin, the carefully-crafted lies, and the media myths, the Democrats are holding their convention next week.” (Denton 44). Trump has maintained the same abrasive demeanor that made him so popular with some Republican voters. I feel Trump’s audience is mainly working class whites who feel disenfranchised. Many of these voters were coal miners who were unable to afford a college education and get a better paying job after many coal mines began closing down over the last several decades. I feel one of Trump’s very effective strategies is relaying how environmental regulations are limiting how many of these jobs are available. I also feel Trump is effective at creating hostility between low income whites and recent immigrants. Trump taps into the fears of low income whites by suggesting they may be replaced by new immigrants, especially in the United States job market. These two tactics show he is an effective communicator who is good at exploiting people’s fears. Political rallies remain an important part of the campaign process because they help galvanize a candidate’s base and encourage that candidate’s supporters to go out in force on election day. Stump campaigning is still important to a campaign because it encourages voters, who may not support a candidate in their party, to vote for that candidate because their favorite politician supports them.
Works Cited
Denton, Robert E. “Chapter 2.” The 2016 US Presidential Campaign Political Communication and Practice, by Robert E. Denton, Springer International Publishing, 2017, pp. 44–44.
Tucker, Ken. “Meltdown in Duluth- Trump Yells at Protesters and `Elites` at Rally.” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 21 June 2018, www.yahoo.com/news/.
Dawsey, Josh. “In South Carolina Rally, Trump Targets Sanford, McCain, and TV Comedians.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 25 June 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/.
In-text Citation
John McMahon
ReplyDeleteBlog Post #2
President Trump has appeared at numerous rallies around the country, supporting republican candidates as the upcoming midterm elections get closer. The primary message that Trump conveys are pretty much regurgitations of what he himself usually boasts about on Twitter on a day to day basis: a “booming economy”, trade wars, the fake news coverage about himself, and of course his beloved wall. His audience is staunch republicans and conservatives, the people most likely to vote for him and to vote for the candidates he is endorsing. These messages don’t stray far from his talking points in the 2016 election, in fact, there are many that are pretty much the same. Trump still even makes a point to talk about his victory over Hilary Clinton in the 2016 election! In an article by the Washington Post about a Trump rally in South Carolina, Trump went out “guns blazing” per-say, shooting down any opposition coverage of himself. The president went after anyone from Arnold Schwarzenegger for his “TV ratings”, Congressman Mark Sanford for “his extramarital affair on what Trump inaccurately called the “Tallahassee Trail”, accused the now late Senator John McCain of “grandstanding,” and “called home-state comedian Stephen Colbert a “lowlife” (Dawsey, 1). These attacks, as well as his ongoing finger-pointing to “fake news” coverage have proven clear that if you’re planning on attacking Donald Trump, be prepared for some serious defense on his side of the field.
In my assessment, President Trump is an effective communicator, at least in terms of getting a message through to his own party or supporters. His use of rallies and even Twitter deem effective in the sense that it gets people talking, and his “reality star” persona has deemed effective. In Oh the Places They’ll Go, by Christopher J. Divine, Divine explains that Trump had “made 55 percent more campaign visits than Hillary Clinton in 2016—157, in total, to her 101.1” (Devine, 50). Trump has made it clear that he is no stranger to rallies, having held rallies just months after getting into office. Rallies are an important part of the political process because they allow candidates to speak directly to their supporters. Rallies make candidates more personable because candidates are quite literally speaking to their supporters, giving them a greater sense of inclusion in the political process. In addition to this, Devine explains how (in the 2016 election), republicans would primarily campaign in areas that were persuadable voters. Devine includes that Trump’s “campaign was targeting politically misaligned and alienated individuals who typically voted for another party or not at all, on the basis of Trump's outsider message and credentials” (Devine, 63). Trump campaigned in areas he knew he could most likely get votes in or change the mind of voters who were on the fence.
John McMahon Works Cited
ReplyDeleteDawsey, Josh. “In South Carolina Rally, Trump Targets Sanford, McCain and TV Comedians.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 25 June 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-south-carolina-rally-trump-targets-sanford-mccain-and-tv-comedians/2018/06/25/71db5cba-7893-11e8-aeee-4d04c8ac6158_story.html?utm_term=.4757248ff726&wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1.
Devine, Christopher J. "Oh the Places They'll Go: The Geography & Political Strategy of Presidential Campaign Visits in 2016." Studies of Communication in the 2016 Presidential Campaign, edited by Robert E. Denton, Jr., Lexington Books, 2018, pp. 45 - 68.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCali Kees
ReplyDeleteProfessor Burns
Blog Post #2
10, September 2018
At these recent rallies, we have been seeing Trump instead of talking about these Republican candidates he’s there to support, he is making the show all about him. In an article by Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post, regarding a South Carolina rally back in June, Dawsey commented on how Trump, " often veers off topic at rallies for other candidates to instead tout his own record,” (Dawsey 2). He keeps up the same messages that he has been proudly shouting since he was on the campaign trail himself. For example, calling out the “fake news” media in the room. The craziest thing about this is the candidates will go along with the Trump show. This happens in this specific South Carolina rally this article discusses, when Henry McMaster said nothing of his own, he only really voiced his love and respect for Trump.
Looking back to the Republican National Convention in 2016 Trump’s primary messages included breaking free from the politics of the past, to put America great and to make it a great country once more. Trump promised secure borders, safe neighborhoods and a booming economy. In “The 2016 US Presidential Campaign Political Communication and Practice,” by Robert Denton a quote from Trump at the Convention was cited, “I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people who cannot defend themselves,” (Denton 45). He branded himself as a political outsider and the his audience thrived on that. He still uses these same messages in the rallies we have seen recently.
Trumps audience often reflects the extremes of the republican party. His followers are extreme loyalists and to them he could do no wrong. They absorb and often later preach whatever he says. This, I feel, is really the reason that the term “fake news” is now tossed around so often.
Trump is definitely an effective communicator. He knows what his supporters want to hear and he gives them exactly that. He knows how to excite and find that passion in his supporters at these rallies that give them that crazy electric feel they supposedly all often have. He ran on the fact that he would speak his mind and be a tell it like it is kind of guy and thats what he has done on this campaign trail, on the campaign trail in the 2016 election, on Twitter, etc. The people who are loyalists appreciate and live off that, especially when he is on a campaign trail.
Stumping remains an important part of political rallies, campaigning and the overall political process because it puts the politician right in front of the voters. They are there to state their views, respond to any news and I think that seeing a politician in person may often make them seem more human to voters.
Works Cited
E., Denton Jr Robert. The 2016 US Presidential Campaign Political Communication and Practice. Springer International Publishing, 2017.
Dawsey, Josh. "In South Carolina Rally, Trump Targets Sanford, McCain and TV Comedians." Washington Post, 2018.
Rick Lessard
ReplyDeleteRick Lessard
Donald Trump seemed to burst onto the scene in 2016 as his bid for presidency changed from dark horse outsider to the Republican nominated candidate to the President of the United States. Along the entire way, almost every major news station or newspaper, wrote Trump off as merely a flash in the pan. Trump became president on the strength of two very important things. The first one was his constant touring of the country, rallying his base every chance every chance time allowed him too. Secondly was his messaged. Trump was Trump. He spoke his mind, he was an outsider, and he cared for the working man. In an almost unprecedented move, President Trump continues to do these two things during his presidency.
The Trump campaign loved to tour during the 2016 election. Most polls favored Hillary Clinton to win. However, when one looks at the amount of touring the Trump campaign did compared to Clinton’s, a different picture comes into view. According to Christopher Devine, “Donald Trump made 55 percent more campaign visits than Hillary Clinton in 2016-157, in total, to her 101.” (Devine 50) Trump became accessible to the people. He became even more visible when the media began to jump on his outrageous claims varying on topic. That sound bite was looped, analyzed, and discussed on almost every major American news station, all while the Trump campaign soaked in the free publicity.
Trump continues to tour constantly in an effort to feed his base’s unquenchable thirst for him. Josh Dawsey writes in his Washington Post article, Trump targets Sanford, McCain and TV comedians, “Trump said that Democrats don’t like police officers and that his tax cuts are the “greatest ever.” He exaggerated the U.S. trade deficit. He took credit for better ticket sales at the Olympics and seemingly even for more rockets going to space, describing SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk’s rockets to an apparently perplexed crowd.” (Dawsey 1) Trump strategy has not changed. He attacks figures and movements that he feels is threatening to his greatness all the while cementing his message of “us against them”. The “us”, being the base and the “them”, is anyone outside of the it.
President Trump began these type of attacks in his campaign and, probably to the delight of his base, he has not changed them. Candidate Trump systematically took down a field of more qualified, more experienced group of politicians one by one. Robert Denton Jr writes, “While the orthodox candidates ’ carefully crafted personae were strategically (and sometimes heavy-handedly) deployed, Trump took a shotgun approach towards destroying them. And although his vitriolic characterizations and statements were widely reported and repeated, they were commonly seen as just an entertaining sideshow to the more serious main event of choosing a sobersided contender.” In a way it was the experienced of the other Republican candidates that led to their downfall. Trump would go one to rants about them and publicly bully them. They acted like politicians by behaving in a more professional manner. Trump did not and people were drawn to that type of strategy.
DeletePresident Trumps is a good communicator because of his repetitive negative rhetoric of his opponents and the message that he is not a politician. The President constantly says how better his policies are or how much better he is in general. People are drawn to that as evidence of Trump being elected shows. He tells people what they want to hear.
Works cited
The 2016 US Presidential Campaign : Political Communication and Practice, edited by Jr, Robert E. Denton, Palgrave Macmillan US, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/quinnipiac/detail.action?docID=4922011.
Dawsey, Josh. "In South Carolina Rally, Trump Targets Sanford, McCain and TV Comedians." Washington Post, Washington Post 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-south-carolina-rally-trump-targets-sanford-mccain-and-tv-comedians/2018/06/25/71db5cba-7893-11e8-aeee-4d04c8ac6158_story.html?utm_term=.4757248ff726&wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1
Devine, Christopher J. "Oh the Places They'll Go: The Geography & Political Strategy of Presidential Campaign Visits in 2016." Studies of Communication in the 2016 Presidential Campaign, Lexington Books, 2018, pp. 45-68
Trump’s primary messages at his rally aren’t too different from ones espoused by Republicans of the past. It’s just packaged in a vapid and sleazy way, which is not necessarily a huge problem within itself if you’ve already accepted other neoliberal policies of constant imperialistic war and widespread economic repression of non-whites and poor people. Rather, it is the utter lack of equivalent response from the Left that gives the bombastic dialogue of Trump the effective edge that his smooth-brained supporters turn out to rallies for. During his presidential bid, he primarily campaigned on a staunchly nationalist anti-immigration platform that emphasized border controls, a build-up of our armed forces, and a revitalization of the American job market; essentially the average conservative campaign platform that red voters loved since the days of Reagan, and it comes as no surprise that Trump’s approval rating is the highest amongst Republican presidents ever since. Since those days, much of his incendiary rhetoric has been directed towards the media and the government agencies that have conspired against him. “The president, more than ever, is channeling his internal frustration and fear into a ravenous maw of grievance and invective”(Costa). With brazen speeches and incendiary rhetoric, Trump generates ardent support amongst his base of clapping seals and as such commands a very high approval rating from his party. Meanwhile, the gormless counterstrategy of liberal media pundits is to dunk on Trump by citing the Washington Post Fact Checker, as if taking the time to analyze Donald Trump’s statements for inconsistencies and falsehoods will have any actual effect on him or his base - political efforts like this will almost certainly let him back in the White House in 2020. What will the Left say when Trump claims Muslims will grow wings and fly over to the US? “Umm well guess what?? Humans and birds don’t share a common ancestor! Take that President Cheeto!!”
ReplyDeleteThere has been a holistic myth that Trump voters are simple, soot-faced working-class folk from the panhandle. This romantic fantasy is something elite liberals and conservatives tell themselves to maintain a favorable sense of reality within the current status quo. As it is, Trump supporters who get the most media attention tend to be anxious laborers in poverty-stricken factory towns. Rather, the true demographic support from him comes from affluent, economically stable communities, specifically ones with a large portion of retirees, (a gated community in Florida called The Villages is a great example of this). It is the same demographic that is now ‘protesting’ the NFL(which, for entirely separate reasons, is certainly an organization deserving of protest), is afraid of bathrooms, and most likely sacrifices brown children while playing Gregorian chant versions of Jimmy Buffet songs. The policies Trump promotes are ones this arthritic demographic would support because old and wealthy conservatives would genuinely love to see a colossal mound of Mexican corpses if it meant the mound would provide shade for their golf courses.
So how does Trump rile up that base? It is constant rallying at an unprecedented rate as far as I’ve seen. As Denton mentions, rallies provide a space for political factions a place to convene with like-minded individuals. With most of the media united against Trump, more people head out to Trump rallies to quell the disenfranchisement they feel they’ve been subject to. Moreover, rallies help dispel the public image of the government as an establishment and focuses it all down to one person, right there in front of you, talking to you in your county, which are the most important areas for candidates to have control.
Rucker, Philip, Robert Costa, and Ashley Parker. "Trump at a Precarious Moment In His Presidency: Privately Brooding and Publicly Roaring." Washington Post, 5 Aug. 2018.
DeleteDenton Jr., Robert E., ed. The 2016 U.S. Presidential Campaign: Political Communication and Practice. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2017.
Donald Trump’s primary messages at these rallies are that Democrats want open borders, want to raise your taxes and anything else than the Republican Party, or Donald Trump himself, disagrees with. His claims of his opposition are usually filed with a mix of hate and lies that always seem to get a positive reaction out of the crowd. A Washington Post article from July 10, 2018 examined Trump’s speech at a campaign rally in Montana and came to the conclusion that, “76 percent of claims are false, misleading or lacking evidence.” Whether he is stumping or campaigning for another candidate, he is always making claims that can be extremely false.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, his talking points are way less radical during his convention speech in 2016. It seems like Trump was more convincing the American people that he is the man for the job, saying things along the lines of, “I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people who cannot defend themselves. Nobody knows the system better than me.” The textbook later states, “Over the course of four days, the Republicans portrayed a nation in distress, a country drifting away from the American dream.” The Republicans, and Trump in particular, wanted to show what was wrong with America and then try to fix it. Now at his rallies it seems like Trump just says whatever is on his mind.
Trump’s audience is his loyal following and his message always resonates with that audience. We have talked in class about his greatest hits, including “lock her up” and “CNN sucks.” His crowds are infatuated with Trump and his beliefs and will get behind and believe whatever he says.
In my opinion I don’t believe Trump is an effective communicator given that he has trouble piecing together coherent sentences but it seems like that doesn’t matter. As someone who is not a part of his base, I think he is an extremely ineffective communicator. However, I think that anyone who follows him would say that he is effective because he isn’t afraid to be politically incorrect and say whatever is on his mind.
Rallies and stump speeches are important parts of the political process because they represent a chance for candidates or officials holding office to speak directly to their base. More than that, they offer the ability for the representatives to get their followers psyched up for them running for office.
Rizzo, Salvador, and Meg Kelly. "Analysis | Anatomy of a Trump Rally: 76 Percent of Claims Are False, Misleading or Lacking Evidence." The Washington Post. WP Company, 10 July 2018. Web. 11 Sept. 2018.
Denton, Robert E. Political Campaign Communication: Theory, Method, and Practice. Lanham, MD: Lexington , an Imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Group, 2017. Print.
Two years after his presidential campaign, President Donald Trump is still attending rallies throughout the country. Formally, he is there to encourage people to vote for a specific candidate, but if you tuned in at any point in his rallies, you may have a hard time figuring out who that candidate actually is. These rallies of support seem to be more of an opportunity for President Trump to boost his ego. For example, on June 25th of this year Trump flew out to South Carolina to attend a rally to encourage voters to vote for Gov. Henry McMaster in the upcoming Republican primary. He bragged about creating a space force, called his tax cuts the “greatest ever”, reassured his audience that his hair is in fact real, attributed Olympic ticket sales to himself, bragged about how many TVs are on Air Force One, the list goes on. This June 25th rally contained the same ego boosting rhetoric President Trump has used since he announced he was running for president and even far beyond that.
ReplyDeleteWhat is most concerning is that he took the time to call public opinion polls fake. A Gallup poll showed his approval rating was at 41 percent the Monday before his rally. It is interesting to me that he felt the need to call the polls fake when he knows as well as anyone else that his supporters wouldn’t listen to those polls anyway. He has been trying to undermine the credibility of public opinion polls and the media since his campaign and his base eats it up. So why continue reminding people that the polls and media are fake? Because it keeps his base riled up. The success of his campaign can be partially contributed to the fervent support of his base and that support can be contributed to his countless rallies throughout his campaign. In “Oh the Places You’ll Go” Christopher J. Devine writes, “Donald Trump made 55 percent more campaign visits than Hillary Clinton in 2016-2017.” These campaigns allowed trump to electrify his base and gain their unwavering support by planting a seed of doubt about the media and the “political elites” to make it easier to have them believe whatever he wants them to.
I think that Trump is perfect evidence as to why political rallies and “stump” speeches are still vital to the campaigning process. It allows them to speak directly to their voters, or potential voters. The atmosphere in the air alone is enough to get people excited to vote. Even if you can’t attend the rally, TV coverage allows you to take part in the excitement. Trump’s rallies are especially unique because they draw in crowds of people that aren’t even supporters. I am far from a Trump supporter but I would still love the opportunity to attend one of his rallies simply to see the spectacle for myself. I’m not aware of any other political candidate who would have their non-supporters wanting to come to a rally. Garnering this type of attention and creating this buzz around your rallies is important because not only does it help you get and keep the attention of your base and it gets you vital media coverage. And sometimes, the rallies aren’t even about the rallies themselves, it’s about the media coverage afterwards that keeps a candidate current in the news cycle which is an important part of campaigning.
Work Cited
DeleteIn South Carolina rally, Trump targets Sanford, McCain and TV comedians. (2018, June 25). Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-south-carolina-rally-trump-targets-sanford-mccain-and-tv-comedians/2018/06/25/71db5cba-7893-11e8-aeee-4d04c8ac6158_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8b0d0c53dd84&wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1
Denton, R. E. (2018). Studies of communication in the 2016 presidential campaign. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Donald Trump is infamous for his bold and brash political rallies, centered around his political slogan “Make America Great Again”. Now, in 2018, Trump has begun providing his energy to support Republican candidates in his own Trump style. In support of the Republican candidates, Trump creates an atmosphere in which it’s an “Us vs Them” mentality, where according to him he reveals the massive problems that plague our country, and how the political elite desire to keep control away from the people. It’s the same rhetoric from 2016, including strengthening the borders, increasing our defense budget, fake news, and lowering taxes. The rally becomes less about the Republican candidate he came to support, and more like a full blown Trump rally to begin with. “His presidency is everywhere and your ability to nuance and message what doesn’t directly involve him is drowned out entirely by a complete avalanche of news and punditry and analysis of what the president is doing.” (Parker and Rucker 2018) As long as the Republican candidate supports Trump and is on the same stage as him, then Trump’s supporters will follow through and support them by association. His audience is very conservative and far-right, meaning they respond well to aggressive attacks against the left as well as the us vs them mentality that is easily created. Conservative values are championed, and hearts are won. If you consider how far Trump has gone with such brash and unheard of political campaigning, I would say he is an effective communicator simply based on how he used everything he could leverage and came out on top. A great example is from the textbook; “Trump summarized the arguments simply, “the problems we face now, poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad, will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them in the first place. A change in leadership is required to produce a change in outcomes” (Denton) His words have shaken the nation to a substantial degree, and that alone is quite powerful. Speaking from the stump has its roots in our nation’s politics for hundreds of years, and Trump is not the first to speak from a mountain. Political rallies are what connect the people with the politician, in which it may be the only opportunity to see our presidents or other political figures in person.
ReplyDeleteWorks cited:
Denton Jr., Robert E., ed. The 2016 U.S. Presidential Campaign: Political Communication and Practice. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2017.
Parker, Ashley and Philip Rucker. "Trump colors the fall campaign landscape: ‘He’s been the only thing that matters.’" Washington Post, 9 Sept. 2018.
Donald Trump has continued to use the same phrases he used when he was running for election. As Trump “promotes” other Republican politicians, he has used phrases like “Make America Great Again” and “Build that wall” as if to say that he is continuing to push his policies rather than promote the policies of others. By repeating his own slogans and policies, he is making it seem like the politician that he is promoting is a part of that promise. That these people are a part of his overall message so that it will rally his supporters to their aid. Part of me thinks that he does this on purpose, but I also think that he only knows how to support himself and his messages and that this encompassing is just as accident. Either way, he has gotten his crowds to reach more than 100 dB which is as load as a jet taking off (Johnson).
ReplyDeleteTrump’s audience is white, conservative, wealthy, middle class, poor, young and old. He has found a way to appeal to the working class while offering tax cuts to the wealthy. Trump energizes these people by working with memes, reacting drastically and engaging with his audience at rallies. He was also able to utilize his lack of experience: how people liked that he was not a politician and to criticize Hillary Clinton’s experience, particularly her experience in Benghazi. “The Benghazi story was raised throughout the convention as evidence that Clinton was not fit to serve as commander-in-chief” (Denton). By breaking down Hillary Clinton’s experience, he made his lack of experience seem like a hopeful blank slate.
Campaigning is important because it gives people a chance to have a pseudo hands on experience with the candidate. A potential voter gets to see the candidate, be in the same room as the candidate, and feel the energy that the candidate can create. Trump seems to create an extremely heady atmosphere that has been compared to a football game in class. It has also allowed for people to fall in fear with Trump. “I just don’t think you can sugarcoat the fact that people are fearful of Trump, and if that makes them turn out to vote in record numbers for the midterms, then that is fantastic” (Parker, Rucker). Trump utilized his rallies as fear mongering opportunities to encourage people to vote. On the Daily this morning, the person being interviewed said that Trump claims that fear is what makes him so powerful. Rallies give him an opportunity to spread that fear.
Denton, Robert E. J., and ProQuest Ebooks. The 2016 US Presidential Campaign: Political Communication and Practice. Palgrave Macmillan, Secaucus;New York;, 2017, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-52599-0.
Johnson, Jenna. “What the Sounds of a Trump Rally Tell Us about His Fans.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 June 2018
Parker, Ashley, and Philip Rucker. “Trump Colors the Fall Campaign Landscape: 'He's Been the Only Thing That Matters'.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 8 Sept. 2018
Rachel Beaulieu
DeleteSophie Rodgers
ReplyDeleteMSS349-01
Blog #2
11 September, 2018
Rallies have become an integral part of President Trump’s personal brand. From the campaign trail throughout 2016 to right now, in 2018, his events, rhetoric, and audience interaction stand out to most people in the way they view the concept of Trump himself.
His first rallies, beginning with his decision to run for president in 2016, had the same purpose of those of most other political candidates: to inform the public of who he was and what he stood for. However, by the time the Republican National Convention rolled around, it was clear to America that Trump had a different way of expressing this than some other candidates. The 2016 RNC, crafted around a theme of “Make America Great Again”, was characterized by media analysts “as… ‘compelling as a train wreck’” (Denton). It was a chaotic and intense several days, during which Trump’s brand truly began to take form. His speeches described “a nation in ‘crisis’”, referencing “attacks on police, increasing violent crime rates, increasing illegal immigration, high unemployment… and at national debt at $19 trillion” (Denton). On the subject of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, he claimed her legacy was one of “ ‘death, destruction, terrorism and weakness’” (Denton). Other speakers throughout the convention focused on similarly negative topics. The mother of a victim of the 2012 Benghazi attack spoke, as did a group of parents of children killed by undocumented immigrants. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani criticised both the Obama and Clinton administrations, claiming both were “too afraid ‘to define our enemy’”, which he announced was “‘radical Islamic terrorism’” (Denton). Finally, he expressed his opposition to Clinton’s “plans to allow Syrian refugees, who might ‘actually be terrorists’, to enter the country and ‘come here and kill us’” (Denton).
The takeaway from these messages? Trump’s rallies often operate on a theme of fear. Fear of the state of the country, for sure, but also fear of the other opponents, of voters with different viewpoints, and of groups such as immigrants and Muslims. Trump is presented in these rallies as the only person who can save America from itself.
Another core part of a Trump rally is anger. This is no surprise; anger and fear often go hand in hand. Audience interaction, including cheers, jeers, chants, and shouting are common at these events. A common practice is to target Hillary Clinton, even now, nearly two years after she lost the election. In early August, “For nearly 80 minutes on stage in a packed Wilkes-Barre, Pa., arena… supporters cheered his flourishes and cut him off at the mere mention of Clinton’s name to chant ‘Lock her up’” (Rucker, Costa, Parker). Another main target is the media, which he calls “ ‘the fake, fake disgusting news’” run by “‘horrible, horrendous people’” (Rucker, Costa, Parker). Trump will even go after individuals, such as at a rally in Duluth, Minnesota, where he yelled at a protestor to “‘Go home to your mommy, darling! Get him outta here. Out! Was that a man or a woman? Because he needs a haircut more than I do!’” (Tucker).
In my opinion, the rallies that Trump has are not really to spread information or support other candidates. I think Trump’s rallies are just for him and his voters. They don’t serve to bring people on the outside to the cause, but to strengthen the loyalty of people already there. After all, a lot of what he says during them aren’t even that accurate. The Fact Checker’s database found that “the president had made 3,251 false or misleading claims at the end of May, and his average daily rate was climbing” (Rizzo, Kelly). Supporters go to hear things that confirm what they already believe. Hearing the president talk about the Washington elites, the “rigged” political system, and plans to stop illegal immigration and terrorism makes people feel better. Especially during a time when many do not trust major news networks, some feel that the only way to get information is from the man they voted for.
(part 2)
DeleteRallies and stump campaigning help voters see who the candidate is as a person, not solely a politician. Seeing how they react to audiences, how audiences react to them, the speakers they choose to invite, and the various videos and presentations they choose to display all forms a candidate’s brand. By watching a rally one can get a glimpse of what a particular candidate wants their image as a politician to be.
Works Cited
Holloway, Rachel. “Midnight in America: The Political Conventions in 2016.” The 2016 US Presidential Campaign Political Communication and Practice, by Denton Jr Robert E., Springer International Publishing, 2017, pp. 27–71.
Rizzo, Salvador, and Meg Kelly . “Analysis | Anatomy of a Trump Rally: 76 Percent of Claims Are False, Misleading or Lacking Evidence.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 10 July 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/07/10/anatomy-of-a-trump-rally-76-percent-of-claims-are-false-misleading-or-lacking-evidence/?utm_term=.b79681b28872&wpisrc=nl_evening&wpmm=1.
Rucker, Phillip, et al. “Trump at a Precarious Moment in His Presidency: Privately Brooding and Publicly Roaring.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 5 Aug. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-at-a-precarious-moment-in-his-presidency-privately-brooding-and-publicly-roaring/2018/08/04/4b463842-9736-11e8-810c-5fa705927d54_story.html?utm_term=.332541b799cd&wpisrc=nl_evening&wpmm=1.
Tucker, Ken. “Meltdown in Duluth: Trump Yells at Protesters and 'Elites' at Rally.” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 21 June 2018, www.yahoo.com/entertainment/meltdown-duluth-trump-yells-protesters-elites-rally-130345147.html.