Clinton, Trump should offer a positive message
Donald Trump has played many characters in his life, from business tycoon to showman and now presidential candidate, but his next role could be his best: Victim. He’s being buried under an avalanche of “Anyone but Trump” editorials, and not just from the usual sources. Republican-leaners like the Arizona Republic have joined the pile-on, and so did USA Today, which never endorses and is read by overnighters at hotels from coast to coast.
None of them will make a dent in Trump’s 40 percent-plus share of the vote. To the contrary: For Trump and his supporters, each new attack reinforces his claim that Washington and Wall
Street insiders are out to get him because they’re scared of change.
He’s making this election about something besides Democrats versus Republicans. It’s going to be the elites versus the common people.
You can already hear the rumblings. Presidential debate moderator Lester Holt asked Trump the hard questions. Hillary Clinton got off pretty easy. The effect for Trump supporters was the appearance of tag-team wrestling, with the elite media siding with Clinton.
As for the debate itself, Clinton clearly got under Trump’s skin, but she didn’t do much to give people a positive reason to vote for her, instead of against him. That should be her first job in the second debate next Sunday night.
Come to think of it, that’s not bad advice for Trump, either. Angry 3 a.m. tweets about a onetime Miss Universe aren’t exactly what most people have in mind when they look for someone presidential.
His doubling-down on the shaming of Alicia Machado opens a big, wide door for Clinton: She has an opportunity to make this not just about her leadership, but a referendum on women’s leadership. Just like Barack Obama seized on the historic nature of America electing its first African American leader in 2008, Clinton can do the same for women this time around.
It just might take some reluctant people’s minds off the fact that it’s her they’re voting for.
Gavin Newsom had better watch out: Turns out his opponent in the 2018 governor’s race not only has a pulse, but political smarts as well.
In cutting off scandal-ridden Wells Fargo from doing business with the state, California Treasurer John Chiang showed he knows a good populist issue when he sees one. He basically told the voters, “Wells Fargo did you wrong, so elect me and I’ll stop wrongdoing from happening.”
Chiang may not have Newsom’s charisma, but if he can pull off the image of being a downto-Earth, nonpartisan money man out to protect voters, he could sell well with Republicans — who probably won’t have one of their own in the top-two general election runoff in 2018.
Movie time: “The Magnificent Seven.” Chris Pratt, Denzel Washington and a cast of characters show up for this remake of the 1960 classic, which was itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai.”
Once again, it’s bad guys being good in the Wild, Wild West. Throw in a woman (Haley Bennett) as an Annie Get Your Gun character, and you have a must-see.
And the Imax theater is the best place to see it. After all, you want to watch this kind of violence on the big screen.
I had the pleasure of attending the “She Shares” luncheon the other day up in Sacramento. It was quite a collection of female heavy hitters. My job was to introduce a longtime friend, state NAACP chair Alice Huffman.
As usual I couldn’t help myself. “It’s interesting that a group called ‘She Shares’ would honor Alice, because one thing I can say about Alice is that she doesn’t.”
Just kidding.