Campaign psychology

“Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to “leak” into the public. One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany?” – Donald J. Trump Tweet 1-11-17

My Grandfather was a quiet, hard-working, church going farmer from rural North Carolina. He was also a World War II veteran who fought in the European Theater as a young man. My Grandfather was the classic farm boy, like thousands of other kids entering World War II, who had never been anywhere, and had never seen anything other than the sights, sounds and people of his small town.

He didn’t talk much about his experiences in WWII. I learned much later though what this naive farm kid saw and endured was pretty grisly and had a profound effect on him for the rest of his life. Unlike so many conflicts we are involved in today my Grandfather knew what he was fighting for, to stop Hitler.

Now, out of respect for my Grandfather I am going to tread lightly here but our President-elects tweet yesterday asking “Are we living in Nazi Germany” made me wonder if there were any comparisons in the rhetoric and positioning he used during his campaign to Hitler’s, more of an intellectual and emotional comparison if you will. Some thoughts;

Both created a campaign of support by blaming and denigrating groups who do not fit the stereotype of a masculine, Christian, hard-working, and, if the truth be told, white ideal-type.

Neither campaigned on specific policies, relying primarily on slogans and vague and audacious statements. They promised a new vision of leadership, portraying the existing political system as corrupt, incompetent and broken.

Both use their personal life history to sale a new style of politics, and leadership which has nothing to do with any political expertise or detailed policy proposals.

Both view the press with distrust and disdain attempting to control the input and output by marginalizing the presses efforts.

Both are charismatic, focusing on a specific segment of the population who feel disenfranchised by the perceived elitism of the current political system.

Again, this is simply a comparison of the campaign psychology used by both men. So before you red baseball cap wearing, American flag waving deplorable’s jump my ass, I in no way believe our President-elect compares individually, in any way, to the evil man responsible for the Holocaust, and many millions of war dead. I am simply fascinated with what a segment of the population saw and heard that I apparently missed or was able to see through.

I would suspect, given my Grandfather’s background, Republican stance and rural ideologies, he probably would have voted for Trump as well though he would have been very weary of his slick presentation and lifestyle.

“@CNN is in a total meltdown with their FAKE NEWS because their ratings are tanking since election and their credibility will soon be gone!” – Donald J. Trump Tweet 1-12-17