Posted on 12/20/2015 9:48:33 AM PST by poconopundit
Presidential campaigns are -- first and foremost -- about political issues. This is why the media spends so much time analyzing the TV debates, rally speeches, and policy papers of the candidates.
But when Americans choose a President, the issues are only one factor on their minds. Americans also weigh less tangible factors to determine how well a candidate would do in office.
In short, no presidential campaign can succeed unless sufficient attention is paid to optics -- the process of building an aura of leadership and competence around the candidate.
Good optics was certainly a big factor in the rise of Barack Obama in 2008. His confidence, lofty speeches, and sharp personal appearance impressed people. NYT commentator David Brooks famously called Obama's "perfectly creased" pants a sign of presidential readiness.
So how this battle over optics play out in the 2016 presidential election? Well, to answer that, I think we first need to look at key issues of the day.
No matter whether you a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, the big issue for 2016 seems to be: how can we make our federal government work effectively again. Look at some of the problems we face:
OK, now contrast these problems to the high level of automation and precision that the average American experiences in his daily life:
The average American, then, is scratching his head. He notices the big disconnect. He sees a high degree of precision and competence from his bank, cell phone company, and grocery store -- but when he looks at his government, he sees all sorts of failure and inefficiency.
And this fixing our federal government's incompetence issue cuts across party lines.
Trump's Optics around the Competence Issue
If Trump should win the GOP nomination, expect him to pour a lot more energy than he already has into creating optics around his business competence. Descending on last week's Mesa, Arizona rally from the big Trump jet is just the beginning...
MAKE AMERICA WORK AGAIN optics should be highly effective at swaying those Independent and Democrat voters who are sitting on the fence. Those voters may disagree with Trump on many of his policies. But that may not matter.
As long as Trump can convince people that he'll be a Precision President, an electoral sweep is quite possible.
Just wait for all of the Cruz people flaming you...
Because you have a point.
I think optics is far more important to liberals than conservatives, not that it isn’t important...
I as a conservative, care a lot more about political positions, leadership and policy than who has a name on a building...
To me, character is prime ingredient.
I grew up in a time when the vast majority of people in America believed that it was the greatest country on the face of the earth.
Whether you like Donald Trump or not, when he speaks, many millions of Americans are reminded of how they felt when they listened to Ronald Reagan speak about freedom and what it means to be an American.
It’s kind of like how I felt listening to John Wayne talk about why he loved America so, or listening to Red Skelton explain why he recites the Pledge of Allegiance the way he does.
From the size and enthusiasm of the people at his campaign rallies, it appears that same feeling is in the air when Trump talks about how we’re going to “Make America Great Again.”
I remember well what it felt like after 4 years of that dreadful jimmy peanut and I couldn’t WAIT for election day to vote for our beloved Ronald Reagan. I’ll never forget the feeling I had after casting my vote. I just knew in my gut that our next president was going to get us out of the mess we were in.
I’m not comparing Donald Trump to Ronald Reagan except for one thing. They both stir my sense of optimism, patriotism and love of my country.
That’s why I’m going to vote for Donald Trump for President.
Welcome to FR, newby. Joined to promote Trump with your vanities?
Nice...
You can do a vanity on whoever your candidate might be. So what’s your problem Theo?
Like them or not, those were reasoned comments.
Why attack like that just because the person just signed up?
We want more people here, but some wise ass always steps up to insult even reasoned newcomers.
On this thread that person is closer to the FReeper ideal than you have been.
Read your tag line and try again.
People vote for the person. Most voters do not follow or understand the complexities of policy and philosophy. Just ask Jesse Watters. Clinton and Obama are good examples of how optics and perception overcame other factors.
The phrase “low information voter” didn’t just come out of nowhere.
Getting too real for ya Theo? :-)
Maybe America has had enough lawyers as Presidents.
America needs a winner as a leader, sadly politicians don’t win very often anymore, and all of them are owned hy outside interests.
That is the history making event, a president not owned by old political money.
If nothing else at least the first lady will look good.AAA+
That goes without saying...
Tired of lawyers and hypocritical politicians!
When think Trump I think of power. Precision, not so much. Big things, he’s selling. Precisely targeted things aren’t in the main sales room. That’s not necessarily a knock on Trump. A fair number of folks are mad enough about no one getting what obviously needs doing done that they’ll support someone strong enough and aiming big enough to get the basic job done and not get tripped up by the details. Getting the big jobs done with all the details right is not just a harder job, its a harder sale. So some would say get the basics done, fix the details later.
Does new = wrong? Let’s keep an open mind, waddya say?
Too real? Trump the opportunistic flip-flopping showman is nothing close to “real.” Vote for him and find out for yourself.
In this case, yes.
If I were Trump, I’d hire a room-full of people to infiltrate FR and post this kind of vanity, after first trying to look like a legit FReeper for a couple of months.
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