When have attacks on Trump ever worked? Never.
This one will.
Hillary Clinton's campaign has struggled to come up with a line of attack on Donald Trump as all Republican campaign's struggled, and ultimately failed. A lot of thought inside the Clinton campaign went into what she could do that would hit the mark. On Thursday Clinton delivered a major speech on foreign policy in San Diego. It was the distillation of her and the campaign's thought on how to go after Trump on foreign policy. I add emphasis there because (1) foreign policy is almost never decisive for voters in a presidential election and (2) Clinton will have a separate line of attack on domestic issues.
What the media says about Donald Trump is almost certain to make no impact on the Lowlifes but the Lowlifes are not who Clinton was appealing to. With those two significant caveats the media's headline reviews of Clinton's speech were as uniform as one could find:
Hillary Clinton's evisceration of Donald Trump-CNN
CLINTON FINDS AN EFFECTIVE ATTACK AGAINST TRUMP-The New Yorker
Hillary Clinton’s New Attack on Donald Trump Cheers Her Allies and Worries His-New York Times
Hillary Clinton's Epic Takedown of Donald Trump-MSNBC
Hillary Clinton just made her best case against Donald Trump-VOX
Conservatives Praise Clinton’s "Powerful" Foreign Policy Speech Excoriating Trump-MediaMatters
Mara Liasson, NPR:
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"Clinton accomplished something — this was her authentic self. What's more, she laid out her values, walked into a barroom and started a fight. It was as tough and brutal a takedown as anything I've ever seen her do.
"...she painted Trump as somebody who is dangerous. And she sought to present herself as utterly and completely presidential.
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"She presented Trump not just as dangerous and unsteady...
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Clinton demonstrated how she would take on Trump. Democrats have been waiting for someone to unload the full file of oppo research on Trump. She did.
"Clinton showed she could stand up to Trump.
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"The Clinton camp also appears to have settled on its argument against Trump — temperament."
That line of attack on Trump, his temperament as contrasted with the temperament needed to be president of the United States, is a line of attack that the vast majority of Democrats and Republicans can agree with. It is a line of attack which resonates even with My Brother the Lowlife.
There was fire in Mrs. Clinton's eyes as she delivered the speech but not in her voice, a perfect combination for a woman, for this woman, campaigning against this opponent.
There was fire in Mrs. Clinton's eyes as she delivered the speech but not in her voice, a perfect combination for a woman, for this woman, campaigning against this opponent.
"And like many across our country and around the world, I believe the person the Republicans have nominated for President cannot do the job.Donald Trump’s ideas aren’t just different – they are dangerously incoherent. They’re not even really ideas – just a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds, and outright lies.
"He is not just unprepared – he is temperamentally unfit to hold an office that requires knowledge, stability and immense responsibility.
"This is not someone who should ever have the nuclear codes – because it’s not hard to imagine Donald Trump leading us into a war just because somebody got under his very thin skin.
"We cannot put the security of our children and grandchildren in Donald Trump’s hands. We cannot let him roll the dice with America.
"This is a man who said that more countries should have nuclear weapons, including Saudi Arabia.
"This is someone who has threatened to abandon our allies in NATO – the countries that work with us to root out terrorists abroad before they strike us at home.
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"He also said, “I know more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me.” You know what? I don’t believe him.
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"He says climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese, and he has the gall to say that prisoners of war like John McCain aren’t heroes.
"He says he has foreign policy experience because he ran the Miss Universe pageant in Russia.
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"That’s why – even if I weren’t in this race – I’d be doing everything I could to make sure Donald Trump never becomes President – because I believe he will take our country down a truly dangerous path.
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"It’s no small thing when he calls Mexican immigrants rapists and murderers. We’re lucky to have two friendly neighbors on our land borders. Why would he want to make one of them an enemy?
"And it’s no small thing when he suggests that America should withdraw our military support for Japan, encourage them to get nuclear weapons, and said this about a war between Japan and North Korea – and I quote – “If they do, they do. Good luck, enjoy yourself, folks.”
"I wonder if he even realizes he’s talking about nuclear war.
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"Of course Trump doesn’t have answers to those questions. Donald Trump doesn’t know the first thing about Iran or its nuclear program. Ask him. It’ll become very clear, very quickly.
"There’s no risk of people losing their lives if you blow up a golf-course deal.
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"He has no sense of what it takes to deal with multiple countries with competing interests and reaching a solution that everyone can get behind. In fact, he is downright contemptuous of that work. And that means he’s much more likely to end up leading us into conflict.
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"It’s clear he doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about. So we can’t be certain which of these things he would do. But we can be certain that he’s capable of doing any or all of them. Letting ISIS run wild. Launching a nuclear attack. Starting a ground war. These are all distinct possibilities with Donald Trump in charge.
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"We cannot put the lives of our young men and women in uniform in Donald Trump’s hands.
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"And it also matters when he makes fun of disabled people, calls women pigs, proposes banning an entire religion from our country, or plays coy with white supremacists. America stands up to countries that treat women like animals, or people of different races, religions or ethnicities as less human.
"What happens to the moral example we set – for the world and for our own children – if our President engages in bigotry?
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"That brings me to the final point I want to make today – the temperament it takes to be Commander-in-Chief.
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"Now imagine Donald Trump sitting in the Situation Room, making life-or-death decisions on behalf of the United States.
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"Do we want him making those calls – someone thin-skinned and quick to anger, who lashes out at the smallest criticism? Do we want his finger anywhere near the button?
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"Of course Trump doesn’t have answers to those questions. Donald Trump doesn’t know the first thing about Iran or its nuclear program. Ask him. It’ll become very clear, very quickly.
"There’s no risk of people losing their lives if you blow up a golf-course deal.
...
"He has no sense of what it takes to deal with multiple countries with competing interests and reaching a solution that everyone can get behind. In fact, he is downright contemptuous of that work. And that means he’s much more likely to end up leading us into conflict.
...
"It’s clear he doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about. So we can’t be certain which of these things he would do. But we can be certain that he’s capable of doing any or all of them. Letting ISIS run wild. Launching a nuclear attack. Starting a ground war. These are all distinct possibilities with Donald Trump in charge.
...
"We cannot put the lives of our young men and women in uniform in Donald Trump’s hands.
...
"And it also matters when he makes fun of disabled people, calls women pigs, proposes banning an entire religion from our country, or plays coy with white supremacists. America stands up to countries that treat women like animals, or people of different races, religions or ethnicities as less human.
"What happens to the moral example we set – for the world and for our own children – if our President engages in bigotry?
...
"That brings me to the final point I want to make today – the temperament it takes to be Commander-in-Chief.
...
"Now imagine Donald Trump sitting in the Situation Room, making life-or-death decisions on behalf of the United States.
...
"Do we want him making those calls – someone thin-skinned and quick to anger, who lashes out at the smallest criticism? Do we want his finger anywhere near the button?
