On Rachel Maddow last night Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s new campaign manager, did her best to make her case that Trump is the superior candidate. She seemed to genuinely hit it off with Rachel Maddow and unlike all the other Trump surrogates she seemed to know this was all a joke. It reminded me of David Letterman interviewing someone like Tiny Tim or PeeWee Hermann while they were in character. I got the sense Rachel and Kellyanne both knew this was all theater on the later’s part.
As a Trump surrogate she exceeded my expectations. Kellyanne rarely launched into extended attacks against Hillary and got back on track readily when Rachel asked her to. I didn’t cringe once.
Most of the commenters on MSNBC and elsewhere are saying Kellyanne is responsible for Trump’s attempted reboot of his persona and campaign to soften his rhetoric and policies. Hard right commentators like Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, and Howie Carr have already strongly (hysterically) discouraged Trump from softening his positions on immigration. Kellyanne’s touch has already been seen in Trump’s teleprompter speeches, until he lapses into ad-libbing.
Since she came on last week she has been omnipresent on the interview shows, replacing many of the usual cringe inducing surrogates like Kristina Pierson and Sam Clovis.
One of the best parts of the interview was when Rachel asked about Trump’s “apology” to people who he may have caused pain by his remarks. Rachel asked Kellyanne if he had actually apologized to Judge Curiel and to the Kahns. It seemed to me that Kellyanne wished she could answer in the affirmative, but was honest in saying she didn’t know. I caught a fleeting hint of chagrin, a micro- expression really, but she was quick to return to a pretty good impression of a smile.
She also didn’t make excuses for Trump not releasing his taxes beyond just saying he was taking the advice of his accountants and lawyers. She didn’t look like she believed it was a good idea; but declined to give an opinion when Rachel asked if she thought it was.
Rachel brought up, and put onscreen, the ridiculous medical letter Trump’s gastroenterologist wrote saying Trump would be the healthiest president in history. Kellyanne made no excuses and seemed to agree the letter was lacking in detail, to put it mildly. Rachel asked if Trump would be willing to submit a more detailed report of his physical condition. Kellyanne said she would convey this request to Trump.
A close runner up in the cringe inducing contest.
All in all, I thought Rachel was masterful in asking the important questions without making Trump supporting viewers who tuned in just to see Kellyanne not feel that she was being unfair and asking “gotcha” questions. While Hillary supporters often want interviewers to nail evasive, equivocating, and lying surrogates unmercifully, and I admit to wishing someone would dope slap these mealy- mouthed excuses for “normal” people. I think as satisfying as this would be for us, it would be counterproductive.
Rachel finished up by asking that Kellyanne to convey her invitation to Donald Trump to appear on her show. As she always does when she finally gets a Republican to his or her first interview she cheerfully says (I paraphrase) "now that wasn’t so bad was it?" I may be misremembering but I think she actually said something like “that was fun” to Kellyanne. In fact, unless Kellyanne is a great actor, I think she really enjoyed the interview.
I got the impression that the two of them could indulge in the cocktails we know Rachel likes and after a few drinks Kellyanne would admit, in confidence, that working with Trump to civilize him and make his rhetoric palatable to the Republican voters who are leery of voting for him is like trying housebreak a chimpanzee who gets off on throwing his feces.
When Kellyanne replace Paul Manafort I wrote a diary speculating on reasons Manafort was fired. I included a poll asking how long do you think Kellyanne Conway will last. I think she’s done a great job considering she’s trying to tame an orangatan. The question now comes down to whether she’ll stick it out or give up, or whether Trump will fire her.
Thursday, Aug 25, 2016 · 2:20:35 PM +00:00 · HalBrown
I wrote this really late (for me) last night and ended up finishing just before 1:00 AM. In Oregon Rachel is rerun at 9:00 PM so that’s when I watched her. My afterthoughts this morning after reading the comments are these:
I have yet to make a final judgment about Kellyanne. I only watch MSNBC so I will miss her appearances on other stations unless MSNBC shows them. I have to think of the ethics of someone as professional as she is being a paid shill when she doesn’t believe in the “product” they are trying to sell. Progressive Radio hosts tout products of their advertisers relating questionable claims (Super Beets, investing in gold) and even that bothers me. Of course they aren’t selling harmful products, and Kellyanne is and knows she is.
So come to think of it, I think she is like a heroin trafficker.
Next time I see her, I may just cringe !!
