Status Updates From win bigly

John Bolton was on the short-list for secretary of state. He was thoroughly qualified, Republican, and a Trump supporter. Many observers thought he would get the job. But he had two incompatibilities with the brand Trump was trying to build:

Prior to the summer of 2016, while Bernie Sanders was still competing for the Democratic nomination, the Clinton persuasion game was nonexistent. I have already described her campaign's backward-persuasion tweeting....

Forming a persuasion perspective, we can't ignore President Trump's famous haircut and what I assume was a fake tan of some sort. Early on in the race, both his hair and face registered in our minds as orange.
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... Attack on the individual—In this case, a highly respected veteran. I saw Trump's joke as a playful response and the type of thing he might say to his best friend. Californians saw a monster acting like a monster. Same world, different movies.

Clinton's health was a campaign question (thanks to me, in part). She needed help getting up and down stairs, and she once collapsed getting into her car. It was easy to imagine her posture as "crooked," and that gives you the visual persuasion.

The idea was to reinforce the idea that Trump was "ducking" (avoiding) showing his tax returns and whatever else he might want to avoid in the future. Knowing that politicians like to avoid unfavorable topics, this nickname had the potential....