By Florida Bill The way to get ahead in this dog-eat-dog world is simply to deliver the best zinger. It has nothing to do with what is right, and what is wrong; or what is true or what is false. What you need is that poisonous dart, known as a "gotcha," thrown to demean, disparage and destroy.
This phenomenon applies in most every walk of life, but seems most prevalent and effective in the world of politics. If you can deliver the most tiger-like "gotcha" punches, even via twitter, you will likely win the day.
So what constitutes the "gotcha"? It may be a comment or an observation or a charge or perhaps a question. It can take many forms. It might be an item of clothing, such as a glove too small to fit the hand of O.J. Simpson. Former President Clinton's "gotcha" was an unlaundered blue dress.
But usually it is made up of insulting words. The nation's new President, Donald Trump, is a daily target, but he is also a champion at delivering "counter gotchas," and when the dust clears, he remains standing. That is the way it was in the primaries with the debates and then in the battle against Hillary Clinton, or as Trump referred to her, "Crooked Hillary," a haymaker "gotcha."
In many ways, Trump is like "Horatius at the Bridge." Like the great Roman, he stands virtually alone, defending his territory against thousands hell-bent on bringing him down. When the media exploded over Trump's claims of being wiretapped by Obama, he came back with evidence of "incidental surveillances" of him and his team, turning the spotlight on former NSA adviser to Obama, Susan Rice. "I think that she is guilty of a crime," he asserted. Gotcha!
In news conferences, the media representative reaches for the sledgehammer "gotcha" such as when Fox News' Megyn Kelly wanted to know why candidate Trump called women "fat pigs and slobs and disgusting animals." Trump flinched and tried to turn it around by twittering that Kelly was a "bimbo...incompetent and crazy," but he lost with his comebacks since Kelly was not a candidate, only a part of the media. With all of the publicity, her celebrity grew, signing a $25 million dollar a year contract with NBC. The anti-feminine "gotcha" bruise to Trump faded away after he and Kelly made up on a TV special.
The debate stages in the last Republican and Democratic primaries had little to do with policies. Everyone of the candidates promised to bring more jobs and good things for citizens, but the promises for a better America paled alongside the insults which seemed to resonate.
In the Democratic campaign for the nomination, the outcome had been decided from day one in favor of Mrs. Clinton so a "gotcha" brawl was unnecessary. Sen. Bernie Sanders accused Clinton of being a cash driven double talker who voted for the war in Iraq, but Clinton brushed it off and consistently seemed to be grateful to Sanders for him avoiding the sensitive email issue. Any "gotchas" were of the super soft ball variety with no one getting hurt.
Much different story in the Republican war zone which eventually led Donald Trump into the nomination. Candidate Trump hammered everyone with nickname "gotchas" and the public loved it. One by one they fell. There was "Low Energy Jeb", "Lying Ted," and "Li'l Marco." Gov. Christie had to hang up his skates when nailed by Sen Paul for the TV hug he gave to President Obama when Obama visited New Jersey in the aftermath of a storm. Recalling the hug was a damaging "gotcha" which assisted Trump and gave Christie a very red face. That had to be the impetus for Gov. Christie to withdraw as a candidate and join forces with Trump.
Trump was labeled a "con man" by Sen. Rubio but all his attacks about the integrity of Trump University ended up as tiny flesh wounds which quickly healed. "The Donald" maintained his lead in all polls by using effective counter "twitter gotchas," denouncing Sen. Rubio as a useless squirt and an ineffective Florida senator. Screaming insults at "Li'l Marco," Trump won handily in the Florida primary.
In Trump's head-on-head with Hillary Clinton, he nicknamed her "Crooked Hillary," asserting before millions that she should be in jail, not even allowed to run for President. She attempted to counter by calling his followers a bunch of "deplorables," but her counter got her nowhere, and actually caused her to lose ground. In a way, her "deplorables" comment, which even turned into the subject of a T-shirt, came back at her as a "backfiring gotcha."
So on the road to this White House, never mind all that talk about new policies, the key to the door of the Oval Office in this election turned on the big and little "gotchas," the uglier the better. Mrs. Clinton and 16 other Republican candidates running in the primaries all fell to the power of the slings and arrows that came out of Trump's bow. Face facts. That is how a blustering, billionaire outsider with no experience in government became America's 45th President, and the most powerful man on the planet. It is not what you know, but it has everything to do with who delivers the the most crippling "gotchas."
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