Donald Trump supporters are motivated primarily by anger. Even if you don’t like everything about him, they say, he is the main attacker against the corrupt and incompetent political establishment, including Hillary Clinton.
Hillary Clinton supporters are motivated primarily by fear. Even if you don’t like everything about her, they say, she is the main defender against the dangerous radical right-wingers, especially Donald Trump.
Anger is an empowering emotion. It motivates you to take action (however unwise). Fear is a weakening emotion. It motivates you to cling to the status quo (however bad).
Consider the following:
Trump appears to have unveiled a moniker for the Democratic presidential front-runner, calling her “incompetent,” and Clinton has returned fire, labeling Trump a “bully” during a speech before a leading American-Israeli group this week in Washington.
Source: USA Today
Which word projects strength and which projects weakness?
LINKS
A Open Letter to Trump Voters from His Top Strategist-Turned-Defector by Stephanie Cegielski for xojane. (Hat tip to naked capitalism)
What the media doesn’t get about Trump’s America by Will Bunch for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Democrat Establishment’s Plan for a Three-Front Anti-Trump, Republican-Splitting, Anti-Left Campaign by Lambert Strether for naked capitalism.
Why Are You Voting for Clinton? A Letter to Liberal America by Chris Byron for Counterpunch.
Tags: Donald Trump, Election 2016, HIllary Clinton, Language, Political Language, Strength and Weakness
Phil Ebersole's Blog 
March 29, 2016 at 8:54 am |
I dislike clumping people into categories such as “Hillary supporters are motivated by fear.” I assume that supporters of any candidate include people who are motivated by a myriad of reasons including fear. I do believe that the Republican party candidates have spoken only of fear, anger and resentment. Those feelings have been prominent in every attack on Obama.
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