The historic presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump seems to have hit a plateau, but there are three things he can do to win to rest of the Republican primaries and, yes, the general election.
This offering of a Big Three is not to help The Donald win as much as it is intended to be instructional for candidates stuck in the middle of a campaign.
Mr. Trump’s campaign has been one big single digit salute to the federal government and, to a lesser extent, Wall Street America with his supporters yearning for something positive to fuel their continued participation. The campaign is in the middle of the Now What phase.
So here are three Whats.
- Make a one term pledge.
- Build and sell your team.
- Position illegal immigration to be about drugs, especially heroin.
JUST FOUR
Since this campaign has been all about The Donald, he needs to do something to show that it really is about The People. Nothing says that more than intentionally limiting your own power and nothing would be more Trump than saying “I can get us headed in a better direction in four years. I don’t need eight.” With Congressional approval at 13% and Right Track/Wrong Track polling at 28/64, what better way to really change Washington than openly declare “Just give me four years. That’s all I’m asking. Four years is all I need to get us moving in the right direction. This is not about me, this is about you, your future, and your children’s future.” The voters who instinctively think Trump could be good for the country are looking for a final person to person talking point and would love to say “C’mon…let’s give the guy a chance. It’s only four years. Can’t get any worse….right?”
TRUMP’S TEAM
Building off the single term pledge, Trump should also start to assemble possible members of his Cabinet. Serious, credible people who will make Trump look less scary. Given the success of many of his businesses, one has to assume that highly competent people run his operations, right? So, Trump needs to appeal to those voters who would like to get past the “I kind of like him but a lot of other people are scared by him” phase. Those voters just need some assurances. Since he has been a Democrat and a Republican, Trump can throw out a lot of names that appeal to the Sane Center. Most of these people will not want to be associated with Trump, but when Trump mentions them he becomes associated with them. Strong brands like Sam Nunn, Leon Panetta, Mitch Daniels, John Kasich, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Nikki Haley, and Carly Fiorina would change the crazy talk. It would also eat up a ton of media cycles thus shortening the race and keep up his earned media impressions. Then throw in some business leaders and up and coming political leaders and suddenly it’s not really all about Donald Trump.
IT’S THE HEROIN, STUPID
While many people are easily moved by calls for cracking down on illegal immigration and building The Wall on the Mexican border, many still are appalled by what comes with it namely dangerous levels of nationalism, xenophobia, and racism. In a single word – division. There is way too much division in this conversation. Trump has touched on the illegal drug situation, but he should make this a central plank in his call to control the border. The use and abuse of heroin in this country has reached epidemic proportions.
47,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2014. Here’s the NIH chart on just heroin overdose deaths. Do you see a trend?
47,000. Let that sink in. Just how many people have been connected to drug and alcohol addictions? A LOT – and they will support someone focused on that specific problem.
*shakes head*
If Trump were to make more of his Wall talk about keeping illegal, dangerous, and deadly addictive drugs out of the country, he would gain a lot more votes from folks who tend to agree with him but are turned off by the rhetoric of division. This gets voters worried about criminal gangs not their fellow church goers.
Trump’s campaign has certainly changed the political landscape and now he has to change the direction of his campaign in three meaningful ways – single term pledge, build and sell the team, and focus on a specific problem like heroin.
Then…he might get hired.
Originally posted at: http://chrissaxman.com/3-things-donald-trump-can-do-to-win/#sthash.jdjitGxp.dpuf
