Here’s an easy test Madam Secretary, as I know you will be reading this. If ever you are making a speech and the words directed at your opponent could be accompanied with a stern face and a waging of your index finger, stop immediately. You are taking on a role that will, and has backfired. You are playing a supporting part, that of the stern pedant admonishing the free spirited devil may care imp.
You are only expressing the accepted norms of society you may think, which is exactly why you do not want to seem to draw strength from such a consensus. Most of those who deplore Trump also have a bit of envy, that unlike almost all other people, they included, he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks about him. His not submitting his tax records, flouting a tradition of decades, is further confirmation that he is, in fact, so powerful, so gutsy, that he can ignore this.
We have plenty of commentators and even the second in line for President, Paul Ryan, who has told him to release this information. His not doing it, indeed, makes him special, causing his supporters and some on the fence to think that he can perform what no previous president has.
Your castigating him, allows him to ignore you personally, and deflects the reality that he is demeaning Ryan, Pence and all of those still active past candidates who did follow this norm.
You are running to be President, but also a central figure in the lives of Americans, so yes, you are running for entertainer-in-chief whether you like it or not. See if you can get hold of some of JFK’s press conferences, and watch him joking with, and sometimes making ironic statements with a glint in his eye, but clearly, while being respectful and responsive, having one hell of a great time.
If anyone wants to read about a 1951 movie with Cary Grant that illustrates this, it’s at this link.