NEW YORK: Showcasing Black Americans at the Republican National Convention to allay white voters’ fears that President Donald Trump is a racist. Sharing touching stories about the president’s concern for the military. Painting Democrat Joe Biden as an unacceptable alternative who threatens the American way of life.
It’s all part of the Trump campaign’s effort to construct a permission structure a clunky catchphrase for creating an emotional and psychological gateway to help disenchanted voters feel comfortable voting for the president again despite their reservations about him personally.
Both the GOP convention and the presidents recent law and order mantra have been aimed squarely at former Trump supporters whove grown unhappy with his inflammatory rhetoric and handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The goal is to humanize Trump and demonize Biden so that these voters, particularly women and suburbanites, feel that they can vote for Trump again anyway.
Their new theme is that its OK to support Trump even if you dont care for him, said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who advised Florida Sen. Marco Rubios presidential bid four years ago. People dont like him because they think he is racist, sexist or doesnt care about average people. But their message now is Dont look at what he said, look at what he does.
The phrase permission structure got a political cameo in 2013 when President Barack Obama advanced his theory that many congressional Republicans agreed with his proposals but withheld their support because of political considerations and the fear they would face challenges in GOP primaries.
Were going to try to do everything we can to create a permission structure for them to be able to do whats going to be best for the country, Obama said then. But its going to take some time.
Variations of the same phrase had been used in political circles and the marketing world long before then.
In advertising, its sometimes known as permission to believe, meaning that Madison Avenue needed to pitch a product be it laundry detergent or high-end vodka in a way that would help consumers justify spending the money on themselves.
Donny Deutsch, an advertising executive and former cable host, said he has observed, in his own surveys, that some voters keep their support of Trump secret because it benefits their bottom lines. And he believes the presidents recent messaging on the unrest has been effective.
We can all left-brain it as much we want: Its his America, its his violence, how can he run as an outsider when hes president? said Deutsch, a vocal Trump critic. But its a very primal thing. I think it works.
Within months of Trump taking office, aides noticed he was beginning to lose support among women, particularly those in the suburbs, who were turned off by some of his callous behavior and bellicose tweets. The suburbs, and female voters, largely broke for Democrats during the 2018 midterm elections in which the GOP suffered massive losses in House races.
The loss of support only accelerated this spring after the pandemic arrived. Many suburban voters and some seniors were unhappy with Trumps perceived lack of empathy for those affected by COVID-19 and those marching for racial justice after the death of George Floyd and other Black Americans.
Much of the four-day Republican convention was meant to repair the damage and soften Trumps rough edges. There were testimonials from female staffers vouching for Trumps caring side, as well as from minority staffers, elected officials and friends.
The campaign would like to improve Trumps standing with Black men, despite his reflexive support for law enforcement involved in the killing of Black men, as well as his at times racist rhetoric and the disproportionate loss of life to COVID-19 in communities of color.
But the campaigns message on race was largely aimed at a different audience.
It was beamed at the suburbs, particularly college-educated suburban women: They dont want to vote for somebody viewed as a racist, said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginias Center for Politics.
A similar repair effort was launched this week after reports emerged that Trump had repeatedly disparaged American service members who were killed or captured. The president denied the allegations and GOP allies rushed to share stories of the president’s caring attitude toward the military.
House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy recounted how the president earlier this year cut short a rally in New Hampshire so he could meet families receiving fallen servicemen at Dover, Delaware.
I watched the president walk out there, stand in the rain, accepting the bodies coming down with the family, McCarthy told The Associated Press in an interview Friday.
Creating a permission structure for a voter to come home to Trump can be, at times, just as much about making the other candidate appear unacceptable as getting past reservations about the president.
Sabato said the campaign is trying to make Trump an acceptable alternative again as they drive up fears of Biden.
Trump has made a ferocious push to tear down Biden by asserting he is in thrall to left-wing radical forces that the Republican nominee has blamed for violence in cities like Portland, Oregon, and Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The Biden campaign has notched some high-profile national security endorsements and believes it is currently winning 9% of Trumps 2016 voters. And Democrats have celebrated the resources the president has needed to expend to win back Republicans.
As Joe Biden said when he accepted the Democratic nomination for president, said Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates, he would strive to represent all Americans, regardless of whether they are members of his base or not the polar opposite of Trumps toxic approach.
The Trump campaign says it has growing support from Black and Latino communities and points to the presidents sky-high approval rating within the GOP.
Joe Biden with no support and a dwindling base is attempting to appeal to Republican voters, but his efforts are futile as President Trump is experiencing strong, unified support from the Republican Party, said campaign spokeswoman Samantha Zager.
___
Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
___
Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Comments
0 comment