Kamala Harris has neutralized Donald Trump's "high-dominance" advantage [View all]

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Kamala Harris has neutralized Donald Trump's "high-dominance" advantage
"It’s finally occurred to the Democrats that Trump and the Republicans are bullies and cowards who will fold"

By Chauncey DeVega
Senior Writer
Published September 18, 2024 5:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) Vice President Kamala Harris trounced Donald Trump during their presidential debate last week. For more than 90 minutes Trump had almost no substantive responses to her interventions and rebuttals as he lied, prevaricated, and acted like a broken computer spouting out conspiracy theories and obvious lies from some of the deepest sewers of the right-wing echo chamber. Harris’ victory was so complete, and Trump’s defeat so thorough, that the corrupt ex-president’s mouthpieces and other surrogates were basically forced to admit this reality. Of course, Trump who has shown himself to be an egomaniac and a narcissist, declared that he won. However, his actions suggest otherwise: Trump quickly declared that he would not participate in a second debate against Harris.

In total, Harris’ crushing defeat of Donald Trump is best explained by what political scientist M. Steven Fish describes as a “high-dominance leadership style.” Fish is a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley and te author of “Comeback: Routing Trumpism, Reclaiming the Nation, and Restoring Democracy's Edge.”

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Kamala Harris utterly crushed Donald Trump during their debate. It was the inverse of Biden’s failure. And the debate seems like it was just part of the arc of the Democrats’ new approach.

“Crushed” is the right term, and it’s exactly what needed to happen for Harris to launch her fast start in July and then build on her momentum since then, including during the debate. The Democrats have long been seen as more caring, more knowledgeable, more likable, and so on. Trump’s main advantage has been that he’s regarded as a “stronger” leader. You don’t overcome that edge by throwing another rhetorical pity party for voters who are supposedly drowning in tears at the cost of a tankful for their Ford F-150s, nor by busting out another display of wounded indignation at your opponents’ insensitivity. You do it by showing you’re tougher, more resolute, more confident, and more committed to your own ends than your opponents are. You also ostentatiously delight in driving your foes to distraction. That’s precisely what Harris and the Democrats started doing, and it is what has resurrected their prospects.

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Trump has repeatedly shown that he is a racist and a white supremacist whose own nephew alleges he uses vile anti-Black slurs in private. He also reportedly calls Harris a “bitch” as well in private.

.....Now it’s finally occurred to the Democrats that Trump and the Republicans are bullies and cowards who will fold if you hit back hard and fast. They started treating Trump’s bigotry as weakness and insecurity rather than callousness. Trump and his ilk suddenly went from being terrifying, offensive, and heartless to lame, ridiculous, weirdo whiners. ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/09/18/kamala-harris-has-neutralized-donald-high-dominance-advantage/