Axelrod tells us how he would attack Trump

[kpete]

Trump? "He is the antithesis to Obama in the race," Axelrod says.

Axelrod's first rule, then, is to "take him seriously. Don’t look at him through the lens of the elites. Recognize that he’s a salesman, and a very good one. He’ll say whatever it takes to get you in that car."

To attack Trump effectively, Axelrod argues, you need to understand his appeal. "There are a lot of folks out there who want to deal the system a punch in the face, and Donald Trump is the clenched fist."

The mistake Axelrod seems worried Democrats will make is that they'll attack Trump as if he's a normal candidate as opposed to an orange symbol of voter rage. "Because his candidacy is so much about him and his persona, I’m not of the mind that taking him apart on policy will be successful," Axelrod says. "I think you take him apart on his business record and his offensive statements."

The argument here is that attacking Trump's policies is almost a kind of category error: He doesn't take his policies seriously, and it's not clear voters do, either. Trump's appeal isn't the solutions he promises so much as the problems he identifies and is, uniquely among major American politicians, willing to talk about.


http://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11139822/obama-trump-david-axelrod

[Laura PourMeADrink]

1. Not sure Axelrod clearly states a strategy here, that I can see.

Fellow GOP candidates HAVE attacked his business dealings and his crude behavior - as Axlerod states, to little avail.

Trump's appeal isn't the solutions he promises so much as the problems he identifies and is, uniquely among major American politicians, willing to talk about.

Think this is a good tactic for all politicians. Everyone knows that if you have a plan on how to fix something now - once it gets to congress it could be completely different anyway. To hear Kacich continually saying "I have a plan" just sounds so dippy. The identification of the problem and which side you are on - can be enough - and it is simple and people can understand.

So - as far as strategy against this - what do you say? When he says "Gonna get rid of the laws to keep you from buying insurance across state lines" How would you counteract that? Or when he says "The Chinese are ripping us off" How do you counteract that? "No, they are not?" His appeal is "we can do this - it is happening because of the lobbyists and I am not beholden to any"

[randome]

2. First, drone his kneecaps so he can't run.

Then send in an elite group of SEALS to subdue the hairpiece.

After that, it's just a matter of mopping up. Girl Scout Battalion #4 can handle that.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"If you're bored then you're boring." -Harvey Danger[/center][/font][hr]

[Arazi]

3. Every time he makes an offensive statement he gains 5 points

[book_worm]

6. So he must be at 1000% by now!

[mercuryblues]

4. Right now

The Democrats need to highlight their policies. The only thing they should say about Trump is that even the Speaker of the house and the majority leader hate him. A good thing he is self funding because even the party's top donors are running away from him. Then step aside and let the GOP play the nasty and destroy their own election.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

8. One of the most effective things I saw was a clip of all he said about

women and "tens" and breast sizes on Howard Stern.

[AngryAmish]

5. They should call him a racist.

[mercuryblues]

10. Let the GOP

keep doing that for now. Lindsey Graham has pretty much endorsed Cruz. Watch from the sidelines and learn what works and what doesn't.

“Ted Cruz is not my favorite by any means, and I don’t wish him ill—I was making a joke about Ted—but we may be in a position where we have to rally around Ted Cruz as the only way to stop Donald Trump, and I’m not so sure that would work,” Graham told CBS, as Trump solidified his position as frontrunner with a string of Super Tuesday victories.

Asked to confirm if he would rather support Cruz than see a Trump nomination, Graham laughed. “I can’t believe I would say yes, but yes,” he said.

http://time.com/4244223/super-tuesday-donald-trump-ted-cruz-lindsey-graham/

[Wounded Bear]

7. Trump has policies? Who'd a thunk?

Seriously, I'm not sure the "out-bully" him strategy will work. One thing about his rise in poll numbers when he gets attacked....those are poll numbers from his base. Does he really go up in the full national polls? I guess I hope not.

Axe is an old campaigner, and I kind of have to respect his opinion. It's another one of those choice elections. If we can keep the conversation on policy, Trump is toast because he doesn't really have any. If the Repubs and the media make it about personalities, Trump can be formidable, because enough of the electorate is stupid enough to think reality TV has anything to do with reality. Our culture and our country are drowning in celebrity; Trump's success showcases that perfectly.

Hillary has her problems, but at least I know she'll work on policy issues. Trump will probably set records for vacation days that Dubya could only dream of.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

9. Here's his pitch against some of that - heard him already. Whenever

she says something - like - We need to do "X" He says, "You have been in government, had your chance, you didn't do it." or "You accepted $X from X Company - you won't do anything to hurt them" This is where Bernie would do better. However, Trump's already prepared to "nail him on the tax increases required to do what he wants"

[Matrosov]

11. The key is to alienate his core supporters from him

Focusing on his outlandish plans like to make Mexico build a wall or even focusing on his racism isn't going to work. Those are part of the whole appeal for his supporters. Even the ones who currently support Cruz and eventually line up behind Trump are going to be immune to this. 'At least he wants to do something against illegals' and 'Oh, look, the Democrats are playing the race card again' will be their excuses.

Instead you throw some of his old quotes in his face. It'll show everyone how much of a liar Trump is and maybe help him look like a RINO, which should help take the wind out of his sails.

http://reverbpress.com/politics/donald-trump-liberal-quotes/

1. Donald Trump on Universal Healthcare: “Everybody’s got to be covered, this is an un-Republican thing I’m going to say, I’m going to take care of everybody.”

When asked, ‘Who pays for it?’ Trump flatly replied, “the government’s going to pay for it.”
— CBS, “60 Minutes,” 9/27/2015

2. Donald Trump on taxing the rich: “Well, basically, this would be a one-time tax, 14.25 percent against people with a net worth of over 10 million […] It would pay off in its entirety the national debt of $5.7 trillion, and you’d save $200 billion a year. So taxes for the middle class would go way down, the estate and inheritance tax totally wiped out, and the Social Security system would be saved.”
— NBC, “Good Morning America,” 11/10/1999

3. Donald Trump on whether he’s a Democrat or a Republican: “In many cases, I probably identify more as Democrat.”
— CNN, “The Situation Room,” 3/21/2004

4. Donald Trump on guns and background checks: “I generally oppose gun control, but I support the ban on assault weapons and I also support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun. With today’s internet technology we should be able to tell within 72 hours if a potential gun owner has a record.”
— Donald Trump, “The America We Deserve,” 2000

5. Donald Trump on quitting the GOP: “I really believe Republicans are just too crazy […] I mean, hey, I lived in New York City, Manhattan all my life, okay? So my views are a little bit different than if I lived in Iowa, perhaps.”
— NBC, “Meet the Press,” 10/1999

6. Donald Trump on abortion: “I’m very pro-choice. I am pro-choice in every respect.”
— NBC, “Meet the Press,” 10/1999

7. Donald Trump on who’s the most qualified to make a nuclear deal with Iran: “Hillary Clinton. Hillary’s always surrounded herself with very good people, I think Hillary would do a good job.”
CNN, “The Situation Room,” 9/24/2007

8. Donald Trump on impeaching George W. Bush: “I’m very impressed by her [then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi], she’s a very impressive person. I like her a lot. She was going to really look to impeach Bush, and get him out of office, which, personally, I think would have been a wonderful thing.”
CNN, “The Situation Room,” 9/24/2007

9. Donald Trump on Obama’s economic stimulus: “I thought he did a terrific job […] I thought he was strong and smart, and it looks like we have somebody that knows what he is doing finally in office, and he did inherit a tremendous problem. He really stepped into a mess, Greta [Van Susteren].
Fox News, 2/9/2009

10. Donald Trump on the Democrats’ economic policies: “It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans. Now, it shouldn’t be that way. But if you go back, I mean it just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats. …But certainly we had some very good economies under Democrats, as well as Republicans. But we’ve had some pretty bad disasters under the Republicans.”
— CNN, “The Situation Room,” 3/21/2004

11. Donald Trump on immigration and the DREAM Act: “For people that have been here for years, that have been hard workers, have good jobs, are supporting a family, it’s very, very tough to just say ‘you have to leave, get out.’ How do you throw someone out that’s lived in this country for 20 years, you just can’t throw everybody out.”
— Fox News, June 18, 2012.