Politico interviews LBJ's ad men

[Ronnie]

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http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/2016-johnson-lbj-campaign-1964-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-political-ads-daisy-213925

IMO, David Brock should hire him.  

[Ronnie]

Except this isn't 1964 anymore.

Perhaps not, but I don't think that means a concerted ad effort using visuals to depict Trump and his ideas as maniacal couldn't be persuasive.  And there's a trove of material out there for them to use, from his comments on a deportation force to his suggestion that South Korea and Japan develop their own nukes.

[xavier110]

If they even tried the deporting-stye ad they mention, Trump would simply respond with something 1000x stronger than Bush's Willie Horton ad.

[Adam Griffin]

I'm already imagining them knocking down the Statue of Liberty and then dropping it on its side to fill a gap in Donald Trump's yuge wall.

[Higgs]

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wat

[Virginiá]

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wat

Maybe he partially sees it as "Make America White Again", which when you consider Trump's signature policy proposal of building a giant wall and deporting 11+ million brown people, isn't that much of a stretch in terms of interpretation. The statement alludes that America was once great way back when, but isn't now, and lots of his supporters may consciously or subconsciously interpret that as a time when whites were undoubtedly the dominant race in America and minorities "knew their place".

Of course I'm not saying that is what Trump's message is about (who really knows what Trump means about anything), but I can see why Lloyd may see racial undertones.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Whether it's intentional or not, I don't think Trump is bothered with it bringing certain elements to his camp.

[Higgs]

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wat

Maybe he partially sees it as "Make America White Again", which when you consider Trump's signature policy proposal of building a giant wall and deporting 11+ million brown people, isn't that much of a stretch in terms of interpretation. The statement alludes that America was once great way back when, but isn't now, and lots of his supporters may consciously or subconsciously interpret that as a time when whites were undoubtedly the dominant race in America and minorities "knew their place".

Of course I'm not saying that is what Trump's message is about (who really knows what Trump means about anything), but I can see why Lloyd may see racial overtones.

Is it not just Reagan's old slogan? I feel like that's quite a bit of mental gymnastics and assumptions to interpret it as "Make America White Again"

[Ebsy]

If you don't see the racial undertones to "Make America Great Again"...

[Virginiá]

Is it not just Reagan's old slogan? I feel like that's quite a bit of mental gymnastics and assumptions to interpret it as "Make America White Again"

I don't know, from my POV it hardly seems like a stretch, given his policy proposals and overall behavior, but I really think certain people are going to see it certain ways. There's a reason they call some things dog whistle politics - Their rhetoric/policies are interpreted differently by certain people on purpose, because that's how it was crafted.

Anyway, just my two cents.

[Angrie]

Maybe he partially sees it as "Make America White Again", which when you consider Trump's signature policy proposal of building a giant wall and deporting 11+ million brown people, isn't that much of a stretch in terms of interpretation. The statement alludes that America was once great way back when, but isn't now, and lots of his supporters may consciously or subconsciously interpret that as a time when whites were undoubtedly the dominant race in America and minorities "knew their place".

Of course I'm not saying that is what Trump's message is about (who really knows what Trump means about anything), but I can see why Lloyd may see racial undertones.

This is right, and I think is basically how most educated white moderates and liberals outside of the south will/do see it.

Basically they just need to put together some ads that merges together the sort of perfectly done modern audio/visual effects of the classic "firms" ad of 2012 together with those LBJ/Goldwater visual effects they are talking about. Just look at that firms ad, imagine Donald Trump saying some of his outrageous statements instead of Mitt Romney singing, and show the visuals of (for example) mass deportation, dragging millions of people out of their homes and sticking them onto trains, and then with large swaths of major American cities entirely abandoned, looking like scenes out of the Walking Dead.

[tallguy23]

I definitely agree with showing ads that visualize what Trump has said. That would be highly effective.

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

If you don't see the racial undertones to "Make America Great Again"...

[LLR]

Is it not just Reagan's old slogan?

Thought it was George Wallace's

Also, the point this guy tried to prove was that Trump is saying "America isn't great because obama is black" or something.

[Higgs]

Is it not just Reagan's old slogan?

Thought it was George Wallace's

Also, the point this guy tried to prove was that Trump is saying "America isn't great because obama is black" or something.

No his was stand up for America.

[BuckeyeNut]

If you don't see the racial undertones to "Make America Great Again"...

[YaBoyNY]

If they even tried the deporting-stye ad they mention, Trump would simply respond with something 1000x stronger than Bush's Willie Horton ad.

That makes no sense.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

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wat

Maybe he partially sees it as "Make America White Again", which when you consider Trump's signature policy proposal of building a giant wall and deporting 11+ million brown people, isn't that much of a stretch in terms of interpretation. The statement alludes that America was once great way back when, but isn't now, and lots of his supporters may consciously or subconsciously interpret that as a time when whites were undoubtedly the dominant race in America and minorities "knew their place".

Of course I'm not saying that is what Trump's message is about (who really knows what Trump means about anything), but I can see why Lloyd may see racial overtones.

Is it not just Reagan's old slogan? I feel like that's quite a bit of mental gymnastics and assumptions to interpret it as "Make America White Again"

It's only mental gymnastics for a person like you. There were no "good old days" for women, racial minorities, the LGBT community, etc. Making it great again implies that things were better when the United States hadn't made as much progress on these fronts. It plays on the fact that a lot of white people feel threatened by the encroach of "the Other" into American public space.

[Bismarck]

it's not racist. Trump has a lot of flaws but you can disagree with his statements without all the "coded dog whistle message" crap.

[Flake]

it's not racist. Trump has a lot of flaws but you can disagree with his statements without all the "coded dog whistle message" crap.

Trump is a racist.

[MK]

it's not racist. Trump has a lot of flaws but you can disagree with his statements without all the "coded dog whistle message" crap.

Trump is a racist.

Its the usual tactics from the leftists, if the other side has an different point of view from their  world view you are automatically a "racist".

Its make America great again, nothing racist about that. I think the slogan speaks for every American, Unless of course you are a american that hates your own country and theres plenty of those in here.  Funny the left is going around praising LBJ (Mr Vietnam war) and bringing up 1964 style attack ads , the irony in it all.

[IceSpear]

If you don't see the racial undertones to "Make America Great Again"...

Not quite as blatant as the Tea Party's favorite line: "Take Our Country Back"

[Adam Griffin]

it's not racist. Trump has a lot of flaws but you can disagree with his statements without all the "coded dog whistle message" crap.

Trump is a racist.

Its the usual tactics from the leftists, if the other side has an different point of view from their  world view you are automatically a "racist".

Its make America great again, nothing racist about that. I think the slogan speaks for every American, Unless of course you are a american that hates your own country and theres plenty of those in here.  Funny the left is going around praising LBJ (Mr Vietnam war) and bringing up 1964 style attack ads , the irony in it all.

It seems "usual" because close to half the country is politically-motivated by issues that just so happen to always have a minority of some sort dangling on the other end of it, and so it gets called out often because many of us are sick of the fronting. Immigration, welfare, crime, outsourcing/foreign trade, "religious freedom", and so forth - whether direct or indirect, conscious or subconscious, those who get all hot and bothered picture a stereotypical minority of some sort in their heads when thinking about these issues. Perhaps the only hot-button issue the Right in this country cares about that doesn't elicit such imagery in their conscious/subconscious is abortion.

[MK]

it's not racist. Trump has a lot of flaws but you can disagree with his statements without all the "coded dog whistle message" crap.

Trump is a racist.

Its the usual tactics from the leftists, if the other side has an different point of view from their  world view you are automatically a "racist".

Its make America great again, nothing racist about that. I think the slogan speaks for every American, Unless of course you are a american that hates your own country and theres plenty of those in here.  Funny the left is going around praising LBJ (Mr Vietnam war) and bringing up 1964 style attack ads , the irony in it all.

It seems "usual" because close to half the country is politically-motivated by issues that just so happen to always have a minority of some sort dangling on the other end of it, and so it gets called out often because many of us are sick of the fronting. Immigration, welfare, crime, outsourcing/foreign trade, "religious freedom", and so forth - whether direct or indirect, conscious or subconscious, those who get all hot and bothered picture a stereotypical minority of some sort in their heads when thinking about these issues. Perhaps the only hot-button issue the Right in this country cares about that doesn't elicit such imagery in their conscious/subconscious is abortion.

Thats where you are wrong.   Crime,trade,immigration  arent coded topics that equal racism.  Its just not fair to the opposite side and creates more hostility.   Its clearly a tactic used by the left to smear anyone who oppose.  I will give you that "welfare reform " was code for make those blacks work especially used during campaigns of the 1990s (irony is Clinton had a hand in that jar).   

Americans have a right to oppose illegal immigration.
Americans have a right to oppose rampant crime in the streets.
Americans  have a right to oppose trade deals that are one sided.

Being in opposition to those issues shouldn't make you a racist or xenophobic.   

[JerryArkansas]

it's not racist. Trump has a lot of flaws but you can disagree with his statements without all the "coded dog whistle message" crap.

Trump is a racist.

Its the usual tactics from the leftists, if the other side has an different point of view from their  world view you are automatically a "racist".

Its make America great again, nothing racist about that. I think the slogan speaks for every American, Unless of course you are a american that hates your own country and theres plenty of those in here.  Funny the left is going around praising LBJ (Mr Vietnam war) and bringing up 1964 style attack ads , the irony in it all.

It seems "usual" because close to half the country is politically-motivated by issues that just so happen to always have a minority of some sort dangling on the other end of it, and so it gets called out often because many of us are sick of the fronting. Immigration, welfare, crime, outsourcing/foreign trade, "religious freedom", and so forth - whether direct or indirect, conscious or subconscious, those who get all hot and bothered picture a stereotypical minority of some sort in their heads when thinking about these issues. Perhaps the only hot-button issue the Right in this country cares about that doesn't elicit such imagery in their conscious/subconscious is abortion.

Thats where you are wrong.   Crime,trade,immigration  arent coded topics that equal racism.  Its just not fair to the opposite side and creates more hostility.   Its clearly a tactic used by the left to smear anyone who oppose.  I will give you that "welfare reform " was code for make those blacks work especially used during campaigns of the 1990s (irony is Clinton had a hand in that jar).   

Americans have a right to oppose illegal immigration.
Americans have a right to oppose rampant crime in the streets.
Americans  have a right to oppose trade deals that are one sided.

Being in opposition to those issues shouldn't make you a racist or xenophobic.   

Of course not, however when you and your party the people on welfare "welfare queens", or decide to call people protesting police brutality thugs your racist.  When you use stereotypes when referring to citizens of country that you see are being favored in a trade deal, its racist.  when your parties standard bearer decided to call Mexicans rapists, he was a racist, and your party is as well.  When you decide to use racist coded language to further your goals, there is no defending it.  Why even try, just own up to it.

It's the reason I am loving Trump.  He is showing to world the dark and real side of the republican party.