During her speech at the DNC Monday night, Michelle Obama focused on how both the current campaign and the outcome of this election will affect our children. She introduced the topic by talking about how she inculcates her children against the kind of rhetoric we’ve been subjected to.
That is what Barack and I think about every day as he tried to guide and protect our girls from the challenges of this unusual life in the spotlight. How we urged them to ignore those who question their father’s citizenship or faith. How we insist that the hateful language they hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country. How we explain that when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level.
In many ways, that reinforced what might be the most effective ad so far from the Clinton campaign.
Just in case you had any doubts about whether or not Donald Trump would alter this ugly rhetoric for the general election, yesterday he demonstrated that he won’t.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Thursday afternoon he wanted to “hit” some of the Democratic National Convention speakers “so hard” while watching them last night, including a “little guy…so hard his head would spin.”
“You know what I wanted to. I wanted to hit a couple of those speakers so hard,” Trump said. “I would have hit them. No, no. I was going to hit them, I was all set and then I got a call from a highly respected governor.”…
“I was gonna hit one guy in particular, a very little guy,” he said. “I was gonna hit this guy so hard his head would spin and he wouldn’t know what the hell happened.”
No parent wants their children to emulate that kind of talk – much less behavior. So once again the Republican nominee is making their job more difficult.
As I wrote the other day, it is obvious that Democrats have gotten under Trump’s very thin skin during their convention. His reaction yesterday was a sign that they continued to do so. So in addition to my reaction of wanting to protect our children from what a presidential nominee says, I wondered who the “very little guy” was who had particularly set Trump off. It looks like he answered that question today.
If I thought that Trump was actually a competent campaigner, I’d guess that his reaction to Bloomberg’s speech was the same as mine: he did a great job of reaching out on Clinton’s behalf to Independents, business people and Republicans who are still capable of rational thought. But, based on what I have observed over the last few months. I actually think that it was this part of Bloomberg’s speech that got to him.
Now, we’ve heard a lot of talk in this campaign about needing a leader who understands business. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve built a business and I didn’t start it with a million-dollar check from my father…
Throughout his career, Trump has left behind a well-documented record of bankruptcies, thousands of lawsuits, angry shareholders, and contractors who feel cheated, and disillusioned customers who feel ripped off. Trump says he wants to run the nation like he’s run his business. God help us.
I’m a New Yorker, and New Yorkers know a con when we see one!
For all his bluster otherwise, Donald Trump has become completely predictable. If you want to shut him up…send in a Michelle Obama to go over his head with talk about deep values. And if you want to get under his skin…accuse him of being a New York con man who made it on his dad’s money.
Now that the conventions are over, the next big events will be the debates between Trump and Clinton. I’m getting anxious to see if Hillary’s prep team is paying attention.
