Commentary

In a rare prime-time appearance, President Biden’s speech in front of Independence Hall, bathed in ominous red lighting on September 1, 2022, was essentially the initiation of what would become his central campaign message:

“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundation of our republic.”

I thought, who was the communications expert who convinced him that Making America Great Again is a bad thing.  Twenty months later, he’s still insulting Republicans who want to make America great again.  Using MAGA like it was the KKK.

The left-leaning NPR, unusually critical of Biden’s message, reported it as “a very fine line for a president, who isn’t always artful in his words, to walk and stick to,” suggesting that the GOP will use this to fire up their base against Biden and Democrats.

Has he forgotten Hilliary Clinton’s mistake of revealing her contempt for everyday Americans while speaking at a fundraiser just 60 days before the 2016 election, when she unleased this insult:

“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?

Looking Back

During my career in communications, I was often asked my opinion of marketing statements, claims, mottos, and slogans. 

The most memorable was in 1997, as a member of Sperry Corporation’s Communications Council, a group of vice presidents and directors from the firm’s divisions, we met in New York to consider a new advertising campaign by a new ad agency.

It didn’t happen overnight, but Sperry eventually committed more than $4 million in prime-time television and print advertising in a yearlong campaign to build an image of the corporation, crystallized in “Sperry … We Understand How Important It Is to Listen.”

Sperry’s chairman, J. Paul Lyet, seriously bought into the campaign, insisting that it wasn’t merely cosmetic, but delayed its kickoff for six months until he was confident that listening seminars were being held with as many of its 87,000 employees in 33 countries.

The MAGA Movement

Surely, Trump gave his slogan – Make America Great Again – much thought going into his 2016 campaign.  It became the rallying cry of his supporters.  It was founded on the belief that the United States was once a “great” country, but has lost this status and can be renewed through “America first” policies.

Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush used the phrase “Let’s make America great again” in their 1980 campaign, and Bill Clinton, in 1991 said, “ I believe that together we can make America great again,” acknowledging during Hillary’s campaign, “I’m actually old enough to remember the good old days, and they weren’t all that good in many ways.”

But it was Trump, with his business background, who saw the merits in the slogan and used it to launch the MAGA movement with his entry in the presidential race on June 18, 2015.

Looking Further Back

It was Republican nominee Dwight Eisenhower’s simple, cheerful, “I Like Ike,” during the 1952 presidential campaign, that I first recall.  My wife still has her “Ike” lapel pin.

Not all slogans were winners.  I recall reading how Barry Goldwater’s staff had tested five different slogans, but Goldwater insisted on using the one that tested worse – “In Your Heart, You Know He’s Right” – interpreting it as a nod to extremist views, and that he was only saying what others believed.

We can thank Biden’s campaign staff for encouraging him to continue his insulting of MAGA believers, who have vivid memories of Hillary’s “deplorable” remark.

May God continue to bless the United States of America