A LIBERAL GETS TRUMP’S SOTU ADDRESS

Powerline ^ | February 6,2020 | PAUL MIRENGOFF

[Hojczyk]

Von Drehle, the Washington Post’s most insightful liberal columnist in my view, is worried. He explains why in his latest column, perhaps the most perceptive I’ve seen about the SOTU speech:

But no previous address so cunningly adapted the ancient ritual of a formal speech to the visceral medium of television. A former TV star himself, Trump understands that people don’t just listen to what the president says. They also watch the reactions of the people in the room. He engineered the speech to force his opponents to react in potentially self-defeating ways.

Some examples. Rather than give the usual conservative lip service to school choice, Trump illustrated the issue by introducing a young African American girl in the gallery and announcing that she was getting a scholarship to attend her preferred school. What would House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats do, applaud for the happy child and risk offending their public-school-teacher base or sit on their hands and look like a bunch of Scrooges?

Rather than deliver the Republican boilerplate on abortion, Trump introduced a pro-life mom and her 2-year-old daughter, who was born barely halfway to term. Advances in extreme neonatology kept her alive. How would Democrats react to this cute little darling whose existence blurs the distinction between life in and out of the womb?

Rather than poke the usual verbiage at the wing of the Democratic Party that embraces the label of “democratic socialism,” Trump introduced Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, whose quest to unseat his country’s socialist government had the entire Congress on its bipartisan feet. Now Democrats are left to explain why ousting socialists is good policy for Venezuela while electing them — the democratic variety, anyway — is right for the United States.

[Candor7]

Ask not for whom the Prez trolls.

He trolls for thee!

[Ceebass]

Ask not for whom the Prez trolls....

Yes.

He hit them with one broadside after another. The rats have never had the truth rammed down their throats like this.

[ocrp1982]

President Trump is excellent at the setup. He sets the stage in such a way that the results highlight the efficacy of his positions on any subject while simultaneously illustrating the flaws in the positions of his opponents.
He does this with the deftness and skill of someone whom has many years experience doing so and, who also happens to have a knack for this means of setting the stage to his advantage.

[bigbob]

A very smart observation - and until now I hadn't thought that Trump had engineered it, but he surely did! By forcing the democrats to expose their ugly hateful side to the public, he gained more than he could have through words calling them out.

They say we have a "cancel culture" where unpopular opinions or people are totally boycotted and shunned on social media. That's what Pelosi did with her stupid ripping-up stunt, but in fact she ripped up the stories of those invited guests who Trump honored. She said she could not find a word of truth in the speech - that's as good as calling the black girl going to her chosen school or the oldest Tuskegee airman a liar and fraud. For cancelling these great Americans, to Hell with Nancy Pelosi, and as quickly as possible!

[Hojczyk]

They also watch the reactions of the people in the room. He engineered the speech to force his opponents to react in potentially self-defeating ways

That says it all

More from the article..

Viewers were left to wonder: Why wouldn’t Pelosi applaud money for historically black colleges and universities? What’s her beef with a serviceman who returns from deployment to hug his kids? Where’s her feeling for the brother of a man killed by an undocumented criminal? All of these visuals could be explained in policy terms, but as Ronald Reagan once confided to his diary, “If you’re explaining, you’re losing.”

Von Drehle says he wouldn’t be surprised if the next Gallup poll shows President Trump in positive territory for the first time. I wouldn’t be either.

[goldstategop]

Democrats scowling and sitting on their hands as Trump lauded the economy and celebrated American achievements was disastrous.

They’re being killed by the visuals and on that level alone Trump’s SOTU was very effective, indeed.

[Publius]

The only drawback was the last two lines of his speech. You could hear he was dog tired, otherwise he would have pulled a Reagan and hit the last two lines out of the park.

[workerbee]

Did he understate the record of his predecessor? Yes.

Only if you count "generously not beating him like a dead commie mule on live television" is considered understating the record.

[Hojczyk]

The the liberal got it...

[frogjerk]

Real people benefiting from Trump’s values, beliefs and policies and real people who suffer from the opposition’s lack of values, belief in evil philosophies and policies. REAL AMERICANS

[RatRipper]

It was a very powerful and effective speech for those of us who like his policies.

On the flip side, had I been a Democrat, especially one in the room with him, I think I would have felt like I had been beaten with a baseball bat.

Tough to argue with common sense and sound reasoning that has led to many, many successes. If you do argue, you are damning yourself . . . and THAT is why the left is trying to silence Trump.

[SanchoP]

-—— and they’re just now figuring this out after he turns political rallies into rock concerts?

[goldstategop]

Trump outdid Ronald Reagan and he basically did what he came to do: to make the case for his re-election.

Not only to his base but to white suburban women, to blacks and Latinos.

Trump helped himself tremendously. Democrats were on the defensive the entire night.

[Candor7]

Yes.

With great glee I observed the President screwing the Dems , left, right, center, upside down and perpendicular.

And they earned every bit of it.

[Eleutheria5]

He gets it. But he does this with every speech and at every rally. He’s always interacting with the audience and even the cameramen, and making sure that it’s noted on TV.

[mosaicwolf]

Trump is what one calls a real man.

Mark Linton wrote: "A real man is the kind of man that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says Oh Crap, he's up!"

[bigbob]

And as I knew he would, President Trump echoes the same sentiment:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1225553117929988097

[Lopeover]

You don’t need to force socialist/Communists to respond in specific ways They are what they are. America hating pinkos, anarchists and political islamists.

[G Larry]

Excellent!