Watching Donald Trump in action over the last nine months has been very educational as to how he has and is succeeding. And it is obvious that Trump is a very talented verbal pugilist. He has a very effective way of dealing with questions and debate issues. (Notice I didn't say "good," just effective.) He continually pulls from the following remarkable repertoire of rhetorical trump cards ... see if you don't agree:
Taking both sides - often Trump will deny an accusation and then within two or three sentences pretty much verify it.
Eliding -- Trump quite often will not finish a sentence ... leading the listener up to an expected word or phrase, but never actually saying it ... preserving his deny-ability.
Talking over others -- If an opponent is starting to score a point, Trump will often talk so loud as to drown out his opposition.
Eliciting sympathy -- This to me is a surprising side to Trumps rhetoric ... and one he may have learned from the Clintons. He often tries to elicit sympathy by accusing opponents of unfair charges.
Denial -- Trump seems to have no compunctions to deny things that have repeatedly been seen on video clips ... and, for some strange reason, he seems to get away with it.
Insults -- I won't repeat Trump's many demeaning and puerile slights of his adversaries ... but everyone has seen and heard them ... and they do seem to cower his opponents.
Repeated themes -- The Donald repeats certain themes
ad nauseam ... "We'll build a beautiful wall," "Our administration people are dumb negotiators," etc. ... and he accuses Rubio of repeating himself.
Playing on emotions -- Trump often uses apocryphal stories to tug on the emotions of his listeners.
Bluster -- Trump shouts down his opponents, waves his arms around, and tries to intimidate his debate foes or news anchors.
Changing the subject -- Very often, when Trump's rhetoric is dead-ended, he will change the subject ... like when talking about violence at his rallies, he will launch into praising the police.
Demagoguery -- Call it lying if you wish, but Trump very often stretches the truth past what anyone who was truly listening would accept.
Lacking in details -- Donald Trump usually talks in generalities ... avoiding specifics to which he might be held.
Braggadocios -- "I went to the best schools," "I am very smart," etc.
Refusing to answer -- Sometimes Trump will refuse to answer a request for specifics like "who are your foreign policy advisers?" Often over and over.
Mugging -- When opponents are pressing, Trump will often start Mussolini-mugging for the camera to show his contempt or disagreement.
Trump has clearly learned these rhetorical tricks and street smarts (or, better, force of personality) in his years of dealing with tough (but dumb) Manhattan pols and labor bosses. Then they have been refined during his stints on reality TV ... all perfect training for this political arena.
