The road to Trumping the election
By Elizabeth Polomsky and Kayla Piunno
Walking down the dimly lit hallway, two student reporters saw a door all the way at the end, slightly cracked open with a ray of light shining through. A polite knock on the door followed by a friendly, “Hello what can I do for you ladies?” and they were in the office of Brent Brossman, director of debate at John Carroll University.
Every four years, in late September or early October, Americans eagerly sit around their televisions, waiting to see the two presidential candidates appear on TV to debate some of the largest issues facing our country. This year, the anticipation was nothing short of breathless, as Americans waited to see what would occur between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
The first of three presidential debates had occurred roughly a week before, so the two students were eager to ask for Brossman’s opinions on Trump’s performance.
“He started well and he got progressively worse as the evening went on. He got baited and he fell for the bait. And he hurt himself significantly,” Brossman said.
According to a survey done by CNN Politics after the first presidential debate, Clinton led Trump by 5 percent among likely voters.
Although Clinton won the first debate, this doesn’t mean she has won the presidency — yet. Research done by CNN Politics found that 47 percent of the people they asked said the debate didn’t make a difference in their voting plans.
To find out what people thought at John Carroll, 31 students in the Grasselli Library on Tuesday, Oct. 11, were asked whether the debate had any influence on their views and who they were going to vote for. One hundred percent of them said that the debate had no influence. Twenty-three of them said they were voting for Trump, and eight said they were voting for Clinton.
With the second presidential debate quickly approaching, Trump needed a strategy to reclaim voters. What could this strategy be? Brossman had three points on how to improve his strategy for his next two debates.
The first point was that he needed to prepare better and execute his strategy more. “He is probably zeroed in on the right strategy. His execution on that strategy is poor,” stated Brossman.
The second point Brossman made was, “Trump needs to argue that people who have been in office for a long time are the ones who are responsible — they had an opportunity to fix these problems and they didn’t.”
The third and final point he made on improving Trump’s strategy was “to demonstrate that he is very effective at leadership, he has good vision and the ability to perform well under pressure.”
Since Trump did not have any previous political experience, he needed to work alongside of his team to present himself well. While he is already known for his real estate business, hotels, sports and his two television shows, he needed to learn how to transform to a politician’s role.
Matt Borges, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, took the time to answer some questions for two student reporters on Trump’s lack of involvement in politics before this election. “Mr. Trump prides himself in not being a polished politician. In a ‘change’ election year, that message has resonated with voters. He has done well to build a following on social media and capitalize time on cable television. He has capitalized on different methods than a traditional campaign.”
Many think that lack of prior involvement in politics is an advantage and something they would like to see in the next president. “He is an outsider in the time when we are really angry with political parties. Trump is neither a traditional Republican nor Democrat,” said Brossman.
From the Clinton campaign’s point of view, Clinton’s prior involvement in politics is driving voters to choose her. “It seems now, more than ever, that voters are starting to re-evaluate their decisions in supporting a candidate who skews so far from the ideals that every politician should be upholding,” said Courtney Flynn from Clinton’s Ohio campaign, in an interview.
Do you want a politician or a businessman running our country? You decide on Nov. 8.
