Three Takeaways from Donald Trump's Speech that Could Change the Entire Election

Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention had everyone racing to their ideological corners as the balloons fell from the rafters. Those in the hall were screaming “USA, USA.” Those on the left were screaming, “FEAR MONGER”. Those in the middle are tired of the 2016 election. We are a nation divided.

HUGE Missed Opportunities

The speeches leading up to Trump’s acceptance speech by Peter Thiel, Tom Barrack, and Ivanka Trump were humanizing Donald Trump. One would expect Trump to come out and show us a more human side. He could have still been passionate, but taken us on a journey of passion, intensity, and humility. It was too intense for too long and the contrast from the previous speeches looked disjointed. Style matters and it may have limited those who are ready to support him.

Trump also had an opportunity to give us something new in content and direction. The speech was mostly recycled talking points and applause lines that we not only heard the last three nights, but from the candidate for the past year. In terms of direction, I believe it would have been wise to announce four or five cabinet positions. For example, if he announced that Chris Christie would be his Attorney General pick and that Newt Gingrich would be his Chief of Staff, that would have been something no candidate has done before and now “Team Trump” works together unified, to bring the Republican party together en route to victory.

Trump’s Election Strategy Revealed

Don’t forget that Donald Trump won the Republican primary with a record amount of votes. Instead of pivoting to a more “presidential” tone and style for his acceptance speech to start the general elections, he doubled down on what worked in the primary…Why?

The Trump Campaign probably believes that this could be an earthquake election. They won the Republican primary while Bernie Sanders, a 74-year-old socialist made the Democrat primary difficult for Hillary Clinton. The Libertarian party is polling in the 7-13% range and could make it to the debate stage if they hit 15%. The RealClearPolitics Direction of the Country poll shows that only 22.5% of the country believes we are moving in the right direction, wrong track 69.3%. An anti-establishment fervor is brewing and they are planning to make this an anti-establishment vs. establishment election.

Only 40% of the country voted in 2012 and Barack Obama actually lost 3.5 million votes from his win in 2008. The Trump campaign is banking on expanding that 40% number by bringing in new voters, not just trying to bring Democrats over. This speech was geared to wake those people up and get them engaged in the process. It's a huge risk because you’d like to have a party unified first before you go for new voters, but they believe that they are riding a wave. The Brexit vote followed a similar wave and beat the odds.

The Media Could Be Wrong Again

The media misread and miscalculated the Republican primary; they may be wrong again. I primarily watched CNN’s coverage, and post the acceptance speech fist fights were ready to break out amongst the pundits. There was screaming, anger, yelling, and disbelief…Armageddon was upon us. Then their own poll came in of those who watched the speech and changed everything:

Those polled found the speech:

57% Very Positive

18% Somewhat Positive

24% Negative Effect

The policies in the speech will move us in the:

73% Right Direction

24% Wrong Direction

The anchors were stunned and they even tried to back away from their own survey. When the coverage went back to the pundits, the tone and conversation had changed completely. The media is part of the establishment and in an anti-establishment year, it may be hard for them to see what's in front of them and separate their bias.

Conclusion

Donald Trump’s speech was aggressive, too long, but fired up the arena. Those who loved it will love it. Those who hated it will hate it. Everyone though has to take a step back, turn off the emotion, and examine this election with a fresh lens. The Democrats are up next week and we’ll see how they respond. That will clue us into their strategy and then it’s full throttle to November. One thing is for sure; this is the most intriguing election in my lifetime.

Picture by GrAL/Shutterstock.com

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