"Pocahontas" thing isn't working

[struggle4progress]

BY TINA NGUYEN
SEPTEMBER 5, 2019

It’s been 131 days since Donald Trump bragged that he killed Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign by mocking her claim to Cherokee ancestry, but her candidacy is more alive than ever. The Democratic senator tripled her fundraising haul last quarter, is commanding massive crowds, crushing the debates, and has settled into a comfortable third place in primary state polling, putting pressure on Bernie Sanders. The “Pocahontas” slur, Republican insiders fear, isn’t cutting it.

Several strategists tell the Daily Beast that Trump was caught off guard by the resonance of Warren’s populist rhetoric — a skill set that in some ways mirrors his own, minus the mental effluvia and human rights violations — and said she might be “tougher” to compete against than he realized, repeatedly asking advisers whether they consider Warren to be a “fighter.” Others confessed that, despite their best efforts to comb her record for dirt and to workshop attacks, the GOP oppo machine has been struggling to land any blows. Sure, some of Warren’s proposals are pie-in-the-sky, and maybe the math is hazy, but have you listened to Donald Trump? One strategist suggested that conservative think tanks have been struggling to keep up with the sheer volume of white papers Warren has been generating.

It doesn’t help that anti-Warren stories haven’t gotten as much pickup in the media, mainstream or otherwise. “We all push out the bad Warren stories but they don’t go very far,” the source said—a point echoed by nearly a dozen others. “Sure the Republican base will ultimately loathe Warren, but she doesn’t inspire the same kind of historic vitriol that Hillary Clinton did,” one of the strategists told the Beast. “That, combined with fact that SCOTUS isn’t on the line as it was in ’16, and remembering that Trump needed the perfect inside straight to barely win last time, and any Democrat is going to be tough to beat, Warren included” ...

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/09/gop-strategists-fear-elizabeth-warren

[SHRED]

1. The old saying is true in this case

"There is no such thing as bad publicity"

[greymattermom]

2. He doesn't realize

that for most folks, Pocahontas is a Disney princess. He never paid much attention to his kids, or he would know this.

[tanyev]

3. Yeah, I never really got why calling someone Pocahontas is supposed to be an insult.

[DownriverDem]

9. trump

thinks it's an insult. Beating trump is all that matters to me.

[TwilightZone]

12. He thinks that Native Americans are inferior.

Therefore, he thinks it's an insult.

[KPN]

22. THIS

[MyOwnPeace]

28. Yep!

Another way to "flip-off" someone that doesn't think he's some sort of "GAWD!""

[tanyev]

44. Oh, I get that. It just seems like an offensive made up Indian name is more his style.

As has been pointed out in this thread, Pocahontas is an admired figure in American history. Several states have towns named after her and of course there’s the Disney movie.

[mountain grammy]

14. Exactly!

He was smearing her by calling her the name of an admired, respected, and heroic American Indian. daughter of the great Chief Powhatan, leader of the Powhatan Nation.

Trump is a flaming idiot.

[thesquanderer]

15. It's supposed to remind people that Warren identified as Native American,

possibly as an attempt to help her employability, something that is used to cast doubt on her integrity/honesty/authenticity.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

19. some talking head said she lacks heart.

I have no idea where that came from.

[MyOwnPeace]

29. It's his only way..

to decree "Go back to where you came from!" ((What a horse's ass!))

[thesquanderer]

33. Except he's not taunting her for being native american...

he's taunting her for NOT really being NA.

[MyOwnPeace]

38. And you don't think.......

there's a "double meaning" in his disparaging remarks?
The only thing holding IQ45 back from that is that he wouldn't know "where they came from" when he tells them to "go back to where you came from!"

[JI7]

5. it's one of those things where only the worst type of people would find those attacks to be

funny/convincing.

everyone else knows how offensive it is or just how pathetic he sounds .

[jberryhill]

7. Yes, but "only the worst type of people" is a significant voting bloc

[JI7]

8. yes, but they are his base and not going to be voting any other way

[calimary]

18. Let's hope for their continuing discouragement.

Discouraged people don’t vote.

[Bettie]

24. Yeah, but they already all

vote for Trump in any case!

[Bromwell]

6. I think even the rubes might think calling her that name is a bit childish and frankly...lame...

ooooooooh.....look out! He called her Pocahontas!.....Ouch!

What an idiot. As mentioned in the OP...Hillary had 20 years worth of GOP tear-down...after 20 years the rubes were straight up conditioned to vehemently hate her. The same dynamic with Warren is just not there. The orange buffoon's playbook is not going to produce the same results this time I think....what an idiot.

[MineralMan]

10. Trump is an idiot. Small, personal issues like that don't affect

voters, really. They don't care about Warren's ancestry one bit.

[iwannaknow]

11. People can see that she is a true public servant

[DrToast]

13. Given her mediocrely polling against Trump, I'd say it has already worked.

[aggiesal]

17. If you look at the polling numbers ...

(I use 538 website), the only candidates polling bad against Dolt45
are the 2 women (Warren & Harris) and the gay guy (Mayor Pete).

They've conditioned their base. I don't believe calling her Pocahontas
has anything to do with those polling numbers.

Once we select our nominee, I'm certain this will change amongst
the rest of the voting population.

Their base are IDIOTS

[Bradshaw3]

34. Don't know which is worse: your knowledge of polling or your use of a non-word

"mediocrely"?



Obviously you know as much about grammar as you do about polling.

[Farmer-Rick]

16. Before Trump, a common theme on left wing media,

small as they were, was that Democratic leaders needed to embrace left leaning populace rhetoric and policies or....the right will pick it up and use it to rally right wing populism such as anti-immigration, isolationism and racism.

They were right.

[elocs]

20. But Warren should never have gotten sucked into the Pocahontas thing in the first place.

If she is the nominee, Trump will continually mock her and belittle her, goading her into responding and playing his game which he is good at.
Because once she responds to his mockery, Trump controls the conversation and Warren gets put on the defensive.

[crazytown]

25. It was a misstep, but the only one.

People in glass houses ...

[elocs]

26. Misstep is a euphemism for...?

As the dictionary says, it was a blunder, and one that never needed to have happened.
The question is, has she learned from it?

[MyOwnPeace]

30. It IS Elizabeth Warren.

If you can trust/believe ANYTHING of ANY politician, you can bet that she HAS learned from it!

[crazytown]

37. There is a real debate to be had on M4A, decriminalizing border crossings,

and whether the wealth tax is constitutional.

The thing is, the first time a candidate really went after her, she murdered him. RIP John Delaney.

[elocs]

40. So you compare John Delaney with Trump?

Good luck with that it that's all you got.

[crazytown]

41. Love the snark

I'll reward you with an ignore

[greymattermom]

27. She should just have a funny response,

like, "I'm happy he thinks I'm a Disney princess. He's definitely not Prince Charming."

[Bradshaw3]

35. So you felt the same way about Obama and his birth certificate?

And said so at the time about him releasing his birth certificate? Turns out he was born in Hawaii and turns out Warren did have NA blood. The DNA thing was a nothing burger, just like people trying to say she made some great mistake. She didn't and the voters don't think so either. Neither, BTW, do Native Americans.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

47. You are exactly right. Why start with someone below zero.

[bucolic_frolic]

21. Trump thinks he's just so cute, but that slur is childish, hokey, racist, and crude

just like its inventor.

[MyOwnPeace]

31. And sadly,

SO many (well, probably under 40%) think it is funny.

Want to see who they are?

Watch his next "rally!" (f****g idiots!)

[Laura PourMeADrink]

23. Underestimated. Sure doesn't evoke vitriol like

with HRC...but huge part forgetting. Warren is on the left and will be labeled a socialist. This liberal leaning candidate will lose support because of this from normal, fiscally conservative socially liberal voters.

[MyOwnPeace]

32. And I'm thinking............

she'll GAIN support because she's rational, calm, sane, and actually has plans and ideas. Her fiscal ideas will ultimately be seen as ones that seem reasonable as opposed to "tariff wars are easy to win!" - especially to parents of college-bound or recent graduates, as well as those struggling with the costs of the "tariff wars" and those that did NOT reap any benefits of the "TAX CUT" for the 1%.

She keeps climbing - she's MOST worthy - what a brilliant replacement for the $(#&@^ that's in the White House now!

[Bradshaw3]

36. Well said n/t

[Laura PourMeADrink]

42. Maybe a wash then. She will never win Texas

Their #1 object of bigotry is women, then liberals. Why I 100% support Biden. He has the best potential to win in the most places ALL that matters. You can support anyone who you think is the greatest and matches our beliefs. But it's all for naught if they can't win swing states in Nov.

PS Warren is great! I agree. But "calm" is pushing it.

[MyOwnPeace]

43. Which begs the question:

Do we support the "best chance" candidate, accepting the strengths/weaknesses of that candidate, or do we support the one that we believe best represents our own beliefs, with those beliefs being the ones that we believe will best move our country forward?

Truly, my FIRST concern is getting rid of IQ45 - and I'll support and fight for whomever the Democratic nominee will be.

BUT, I must also consider who I believe to be the BEST person to lead the USA out of the quagmire in which we find ourselves and into the future where we will be striving for a United States that truly represents what we believe it should be.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

46. You are exactly right. I vote for the latter. Almost like a single act - get rid of him - and

with all the immense talent we have, the rest will fall into place. you can't take a hundred steps until you take the first one.

Thing about polls is that there is a lot of detailed information deep within - that people don't typically dig into. I saw one a couple months ago, I want to dig up. It showed the split you refer to. And showed, demographically who picked "whoever can beat him" vs. "whoever shares my values. It was really interesting. The former were white and college educated and leaned toward moderation. The latter were non-white, non-college educated and self-described liberals. That is each side had a plurality in that demographic group.

[mr_liberal]

39. Its "not working" in the DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES with

LEFT WING VOTERS. That's very different from the general population and what would happen in a general election.

[gulliver]

45. It's not a "racist slur" really. It's a mockery of something she did that is arguably questionable.

She has to deal with it, and it is far from impossible. Calling it a "racist slur" plays into Trump's hands. Telling people she arguably has Native American ancestry, then perhaps relating the tragic story of the Cherokee (who tried to melt into the melting pot but were still forced onto the Trail of Tears), then calling out Trump on his bone spurs and Daddy's money? That might work.