When watching this rally
speech that now President Donald Trump conducted in Bangor, Maine I noticed the
amount of veterans that were sitting behind him. These veterans heard exactly
what they had felt had been missing from President Obama’s presidency, and that
is that our veterans have been forgotten. Classified with these veterans is
this group of voters of “outsiders” that Trump did such a good job of
targeting. These “outsiders” are low class, white, Americans that feel that
they had been forgotten by these typical politicians that are supposedly only
concerned about themselves. This is what Trump did so well. He guaranteed recognition
towards these veteran voters and that the military would receive more funding,
something that these voters had felt had been missing. To go along with this,
Trump also promised tax cuts and the second amendment to be enforced more than
it has been with the Obama administration. These firm statements of action are
something that suited Trump so well and played to what his voters wanted,
drastic change.
While surprisingly I
thought Donald Trump’s rally speech was strong, there was definitely some
weaknesses to his speech which is to be expected from any speech. First off,
while it was his strong suit, some of the promises like so many things that he
said throughout his campaign trail are vague statements. These vague statements
are hard to follow through with when you don’t have any evidence to back it up.
I realize this is a rally speech and it’s meant more for moral boosting than it
is fact checking, but as a voter I personally would like to know how he would
get the plans he had for the country done. For instance, he mentions that over
70,000 factories have been shut down in a short amount of years in the United
States. He claims that he is going make negotiations with NAFTA to decrease the
number of closed down factories in the United States. This is a decent idea in theory,
just saying that you are going to negotiate with NAFTA doesn’t give his voters
any evidence of how these negotiations will result in factories being opened
again.
If I were to help Trump
with this rally speech I would suggest that he doesn’t attack the current
president and instead put what he did in lighter terms. I know Trump prides
himself in not being afraid to say what he feels, but this is before he was
elected and sheds a negative light towards Trump for potential swing voters
that might like former President Obama for what he had done. That being said,
it is obvious Trump was not concerned with any voters other than hardcore
Republicans. I just believe morally it should not be accepted to bash a current
president that directly. While he did mention tax cuts, I think this was one of
the stronger arguments that he made during this rally speech and something he
should continue to stand behind and shed light on. Tax cuts is something that
most Americans can get behind, more money in people’s pockets is something we
could all use. Finally, his arguments over keeping the second amendment rights
intact and giving the veterans the benefits they deserve. This drew the
strongest reaction among the crowd and seemed to be an important factor in
Trumps election in November.
I think Trump did a good job of focusing on veterans because I think that issue fell absent in the Clinton campaign. I think his vague statements come from an unfortunate reality that veterans aren't the focus of Trumps presidential agenda because there are bigger issues, which personally, I think veterans are just as important as renewable angry (for example). Trump has a reputation for attacking those who are a threat to him, which seems to be a comfort tactic for him during speeches and debates. Then again, no speech is ever perfect in reality.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on your analysis of what he did well. He did do a great job of tailoring the speech towards veterans and the white uneducated electorate in this speech. I would have taken it a step further and like to see Trump talk on the VA hospitals. I think he really missed an opportunity there. I also agree with you on your critique that he needs to be more specific. Also fact checking occasionally might help. I would disagree however with what he should do differently. Attacking Obama is the only way he could win, he needed to rally the hate of Obama to rile up the crowd.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that he did not show the previous president Barrack Obama the respect he deserved. He is ideologically different in regards to Obama, but it is still not in good light to be as blunt as he was to a man that served the country and gave his life to his job for the past 8 years. Trumps speeches were extremely vague in detail to his plans, this vagueness attracted many but it also gave the appearance that his sound bite rhetoric lacked actual substance. I wonder if keeping his speeches and plans vague was a tactic proposed by his campaign or if he actually has no plan, we shall see.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Trumps stance towards veterans and military funding was a smart move. Many of you may not know this but until you are an E6 in the military which means you have been in for at least four years but usually closer to six or seven years you are below the poverty line. His choice of using veterans was very wise. I also like how you talked about him putting his opinions in lighter terms we all know Trump just lets it fly with what he feels but in politics it is all a game and you have to be careful because everything you say and do is evaluated.
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