George Lakoff’s ideas are the key to understanding his appeal…..i.e. “frame the debate and win the argument”.
The Trump candidacy, and his content free/slayer of GOP sacred cows, is the affirmation of Lakoff sense that voting for most folks is not about rational belief, any specific issue, self-interest or conscience ideology. Rather is it about resonating with people’s theory of the role governance, i.e. How people understanding of government and a nation (i.e. the home land) is about what their idea of the ideal family is…and who should head it.
I.E. is it about either having family headed by a Strong Father OR a Nutrient parent. (While people can hold both metaphors at different times, but under stress/fear they want the strong father government…)
IF SO, then Trump (like Arnold “terminator” Schwarzenegger, Jessie Ventura the Wrestler in MN, etc) are the embodiment of the strong authoritarian father. They are strong enough to tell it like it is and not be intimidated by anyone or thing, and can assure you with confidence they have the right solution (details to follow).
He can clean up the mess in Washington, Russian, China, the Middle East, etc, etc…...
From Digby’s blog: digbysblog.blogspot.com/...
…..Still, there is another pundit take-away from the South Carolina results that might be a bit more troubling down the road. One of the more astonishing aspects of Trump’s win in that gothic southern state is that he proved once again that it doesn’t matter what he says, as long as he delivers his lines with that big swinging attitude of his. As Igor Bobic and Ryan Grim point out in a piece at the Huffington Post, over the course of the South Carolina primary campaign Trump summarily executed a number of GOP sacred cows:
Trump declared that former President George W. Bush had lied about weapons of mass destruction to march the country to war; blamed Bush for the 9/11 attacks, arguing that he ignored intelligence community warnings; defended Planned Parenthood; boasted that he was the only Republican who would not cut Social Security or Medicare; said he approved of the individual mandate in Obamacare; and promised to slap onerous tariffs on companies who outsource jobs.
<Trump> also vowed to stay neutral in disputes between Israel and Palestine, which is the equivalent of carpet bombing an entire herd of sacred cows.