During the 2012 presidential election, the mainstream media successfully pushed the narrative that GOP nominee Mitt Romney was privileged and wealthy and hence out of touch with regular people.
In order to debunk this narrative, the Romney campaign dispatched their candidate to the supermarket to buy groceries.
To appear the “regular,” Romney abandoned his customary suits in favor of casual attire — i.e., he wore jeans and shirtsleeves.
Romney struggled at the supermarket, initially forgetting about a shopping cart before entering the shop and subsequently struggling to maneuver the cart out of the shop. Romney told reporters he would be cooking for his guests.
Romney looked awkward and overwhelmed, like an amateur understudy being forced onto the stage. This poorly staged P.R. event earned Romney copious mockery.
But Romney had a challenger for cringe-inducing P.R. events in Senator Elizabeth Warren. Warren attempted to appear regular by declaring, “I’m gonna get me a beer.” She was announcing her run for president in 2020. Warren is a veteran at pretending: she notoriously falsified her ethnicity to secure a job at Harvard.
Most politicians struggle to have elementary interactions with the regular people who put them in power and pay for their salaries and luxuries.
Here’s Hillary Clinton on a hip-hop radio show, claiming to be fond of hot sauce.
Here’s Kamala Harris attempting to converse with her guides during her tour of South Korea.
Kamala looked awkward interacting with voters at a local restaurant, and her forced laughter did her no favors.
There are rare exceptions, such as the skilled deceiver Bill Clinton.
The core of politics is public service, yet most politicians have no connection with, relation to, or understanding of the public. They’d rather swim with sharks than meet and greet regular people. But they are compelled to do it during the election cycle.
They possess a disdain for regular people. When Hillary Clinton said Trump-supporters belong to a “basket of deplorables,” she was reflecting the opinion of most politicians.
This is a swamp of deceit, pretense, and duplicity.
On the opposite end of the spectrum stands President Donald Trump. Even his most vicious critics and haters will admit he is authentic.
On Sunday, Trump was at a McDonald’s outlet in Pennsylvania, serving customers meals and even making fries. Andrea Widburg covered this beautifully in her piece.
This was a pre-planned exercise. Given the security threats that Trump faces, he simply cannot appear unannounced anywhere and do as he pleases. However, unlike Romney’s P.R. stunt, this exercise worked because Trump is authentic and willing, and he cares for the people around him.
The premise may have been staged, but the joy and the emotions were real because of how Trump conducted himself.
This is why the customers were beaming with joy upon seeing President Trump while thousands of people crowded the area for a glimpse of their favorite president. The comments on social media show that even Democrats concede that Trump is extremely likable and authentic.
So why did Trump’s event work spectacularly while others failed?
Romney and Elizabeth Warren were pretending to be regular people. Trump wasn’t pretending to be a McDonald’s server when he donned an apron and prepared and packed boxes of French fries. He was having some fun and engaging with his voters.
Unlike Romney and Warren, Trump had prolonged interactions with regular people.
The symbolism of Trump serving food to customers was also most effective.
It is said that people are often the happiest when the server at a restaurant emerges with their food. The aroma of freshly prepared food adds to the experience. This is what Trump did at McDonald’s, and the videos captured it.
As a campaign strategy, this works remarkably at this juncture of the elections. People often vote with their hearts and not their minds. This exercise, where Trump is funny and warm, will certainly appeal to people’s emotions.
This isn’t the first time Trump has interacted with regular people. Last year, during his visit to Ohio following the train derailment, Trump stopped by a McDonald’s outlet to buy food for first responders.
Here is Trump thanking all who acted instantly following the second assassination attempt.
When Trump interacts with regular people, he doesn’t feel the need to pander and pretend to be one of them. He remains his authentic self, while his interactions emanate from human curiosity, concern, compassion, empathy, and sensitivity.
This is why his rallies are supremely successful.
Unlike career politicians, Trump never reads off the teleprompter or performs his speeches for the television cameras. He talks to people in the arena and engages with them. His remarkable sense of humor often elicits laughter that comedians would envy.
Even when he talks about his past dealing with world leaders or complicated global affairs, he makes it relatable and comprehensible.
While making it relatable, he is never condescending. He doesn’t talk down to people. He doesn’t pander to his audiences. He is who is he is — lively, funny, happy, and most of all confident. All of these qualities show, no matter what he does. He is comfortable in his skin and doesn’t feel the need to pretend, irrespective of the situation.
This is why his social media posts resonate with people. Unlike most politicians, the tweets are not meticulously curated by a team of P.R. people. They are authentic, from the heart, and reflect his true thoughts.
It’s not just his supporters. Even his Democrat rivals find it hard to dislike him when they see him in person. This was evident with N.Y. senator Chuck Schumer during the recent Al Smith Dinner.
Even when Trump goes on the offensive, he never punches down. His targets are powerful people in the media or politics or showbiz who have treated him unfairly and who can counter him. He never targets regular people, even Democrat voters.
It is not only Trump’s cordial and fun side that matters. Trump has displayed unmatched bravery.
Following the assassination attempt during his campaign rally at Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump would have been forgiven for rushing himself off the podium and preferring to be completely shielded by the Secret Service. But President Trump showed what he is truly made of mere seconds after the bullet struck.
He emerged from the surrounding Secret Service agents and defiantly urged his supporters to fight, with a fist clenched in the air. There wasn’t even an iota of fear on his face.
Once again, such moments are impossible to falsify.
This is what floored Elon Musk and made him a supporter of Trump.
This makes President Trump the people’s president — it’s not just his policies, but also him as a person.
DON'T BELIEVE A DAMN WORD YOU READ ON THIS WEBSITE!
The reader is responsible for discerning the validity, factuality or implications of information posted here, be it fictional or based on real events. Moderators on this forum make every effort to review the material posted on this site however, it is not realistically possible for a one man team to manually review each and every one of the posts atomicbobs.com gets on a daily basis.
The content of posts on this site, including but not limited to links to other web sites, are the expressed opinion of the original poster and are in no way representative of or endorsed by the owners or administration of this website. The posts on this website are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice, opinion, or factual information on behalf of the owner or administration of Atomicbobs. This site may contain adult language, if you feel you might be offended by such content, you should log off immediately.
Not all posts on this website are intended as truthful or factual assertion by their authors. Some users of this website are participating in internet role playing, with or without the use of an avatar. NO post on this website should be considered factual information on face value alone. Users are encouraged to
USE DISCERNMENT
and do their own follow up research while reading and posting on this website. Atomicbobs.com reserves the right to make changes to, corrections and/or remove entirely at any time posts made on this website without notice. In addition, Atomicbobs.com disclaims any and all liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly as a result of a post on this website.
This website implements certain security features in order to prevent spam and posting abuse. By making a post on this website you consent to any automated security checks required by our system to authenticate your IP address as belonging to an actual human. It is forbidden to make posts on this website from open proxy servers. By making a post on this website you consent to an automated one time limited port scan of your IP address which is required by our security system to validate the authenticity of your internet connection.
This site is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. You should not assume that this site is error-free or that it will be suitable for the particular purpose which you have in mind when using it. In no event shall Atomicbobs.com be liable for any special, incidental, indirect or consequential damages of any kind, or any damages whatsoever, including, without limitation, those resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether or not advised of the possibility of damage, and on any theory of liability, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of this site or other documents which are referenced by or linked to this site.
Some events depicted in certain posting and threads on this website may be fictitious and any similarity to any person living or dead is merely coincidental. Some other articles may be based on actual events but which in certain cases incidents, characters and timelines have been changed for dramatic purposes. Certain characters may be composites, or entirely fictitious.
We do not discriminate against the mentally ill!
Fair Use Notice:
This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Users may make such material available in an effort to advance awareness and understanding of issues relating to civil rights, economics, individual rights, international affairs, liberty, science & technology, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
At some point freedom of speech and copyright law merge. The following interpretation of "Fair Use" and subsequent posting policy were developed with the assistance of qualified legal council however, we are not lawyers and cannot offer you legal advise as to the limits of "Fair Use"
In accordance with industry accepted best practices we ask that users limit their copy / paste of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss and no more than 50% of the source material, provide a link back to the original article and provide your original comments / criticism in your post with the article.
Though legally each situation is evaluated independently according to guidelines that were intentionally left open to interpretation, we believe generally this policy represents "Fair Use" of any such copyrighted material for the purposes of education and discussion.
You are responsible for what you "publish" on the internet. You must be sure any copyrighted material you choose to post for discussion on this forum falls within the limits of "Fair Use" as defined by the law.
If you are a legal copyright holder or a designated agent for such and you believe a post on this website falls outside the boundaries of "Fair Use" and legitimately infringes on yours or your clients copyright
we may be contacted concerning copyright matters at:
If you require a courier address please send a fax or email and we will provide you with the required information.
For expedited human review & removal of potential copyright violations we encourage users & copyright holders to utilize the "Report Copyright Violation" button that accompanies each post published on this website.
In accordance with section 512 of the U.S. Copyright Act our contact information has been registered with the United States Copyright Office. "Safe Harbor" noticing procedures as outlined in the DMCA apply to this website concerning all 3rd party posts published herein.
If notice is given of an alleged copyright violation we will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the material(s) in question. It is our strict policy to disable access to accounts of repeat copyright violators. We will also ban the IP address of repeat offenders from future posting on this website with or without a registered account.
All 3rd party material posted on this website is copyright the respective owners / authors. Atomicbobs.com makes no claim of copyright on such material.
Please be aware any communications sent complaining about a post on this website may be posted publicly at the discretion of the administration.
---
DON'T BREAK THE LAW!
---
Other than that you can do / say whatever you want on this forum.
We reserve the right to block access to this website by any individual or organization at any time for any reason whatsoever or no reason at all.