Support from blacks for Donald Trump
has risen a noteworthy 12 percent in the past week, according to the L.A. Times/USC Dornsife poll. As recently as August 11, Trump’s support among blacks was
tracking as low as 2.5 percent. So what changed?
Apparently, The Donald’s tone in his
campaign speeches has changed. Instead of his usual off-the-cuff, somewhat
rambling style, he’s been turning out strong, straightforward messages that are
once again beginning to resonate with everyday Americans.
At a speech Tuesday in
Milwaukee, just a couple of days after
violent rioting had occurred just a few miles away, Trump strode to the podium
and delivered this no-nonsense law-and-order message:
“We
reject the bigotry of Hillary Clinton which panders to and talks down to
communities of color and sees them only as votes, not as individual human beings
worthy of a better future. She doesn’t care at all about the hurting people of
this country, or the suffering she has caused them. The African-American
community has been taken for granted for decades by the Democratic Party. It’s
time to break with the failures of the past – I want to offer Americans a new
future.”
Then there was this:
“The main
victims of these riots are law-abiding African-American citizens living in
these neighborhoods. It is their jobs, their homes, their schools and
communities which will suffer as a result. There is no compassion in
tolerating lawless conduct. Crime and violence is an attack on the poor, and
will never be accepted in a Trump Administration.”
There’s every indication that this
change of course and presentation of the wiser, more statesmanlike Trump is
intentional. Trump on Thursday explained to an audience that he knows he
has sometimes let his mouth get the better of him, and he actually apologized.
“Sometimes, in the heat of debate,
and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you
say the wrong thing. I have done that, and believe it or not I regret it,”
Trump said. “I do regret it particularly where it may have caused personal
pain.”
Normally, an apology from a
politician isn’t worth the spit it required to say it. But in Trump’s case,
precisely because he is only newly a politician and has seldom if ever shown
any regret for anything, the mea culpa will come across to a lot of people as
sincere.
This week, he has also been
effectively demonstrating the difference between himself, his Democratic rival
and the current failed president.
You may have heard there’s some flooding going on
in Louisiana this week that makes Hurricane
Katrina’s aftermath look almost mild in comparison. Unlike when President Bush
was in charge and getting blamed for the failures of Louisiana’s Democratic
governor, the media don’t seem the least bit concerned that President Obama,
rather than doing anything about a natural disaster that has killed 13 and
driven more than 30,000 people from their homes, is golfing in Martha’s
Vineyard, with no plans to disrupt his oh-so-needed vacay.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is
“resting” due to her allegedly nonexistent health problems and won’t go anywhere
or hold any events until Sunday, when she will run to Massachusetts to hold a
fundraiser with Cher.
Trump and his running mate, Mike
Pence, on the other hand, will be in Baton Rouge today, where common folks have
pitched in to help flood victims with their volunteer Cajun Navy. While two guys won’t be able to make much of a physical
difference, even if one of them is Trump, you can expect that the appearance of
the possible future president will make a huge morale difference to the
thousands of people who right now are feeling like their government has
abandoned them.
Strategy-wise, this new path Trump
is taking is a smart move. But it’s more than that. Trump is rising to the
challenge of what will be expected of him if he wins the presidency — and he’s
doing it not by pollsters and campaign advisers, but by running as
himself.
Trump’s biggest strength has also
been at times his biggest liability — his personal, folksy touch and tendency
to speak extemporaneously, off the top of his head. His natural showmanship has
led many people to question whether he could be serious enough to be president.
If he continues as he has been doing
this week, though, it’s a whole new ballgame. This is the time for people to
see that Trump isn’t just a businessman with big hair, but that he also has a
big brain, heart and shoulders to match.
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