Down to the Republican Wire

It's been a fascinating journey from the first Republican debate to the last before Super Tuesday. We have watched the candidate numbers dwindle, the rhetoric become increasingly vitriolic and the public either cheer or scratch their heads. Republican politics have been turned upside down. No one seemed prepared for the unexpected - the staying power of the now frontrunner, Donald Trump.

Being unprepared in politics can bear treacherous consequences. Could the Republican party have been so tone-deaf to its voters in the period leading up to the campaign that they didn't pick up on the strong internal divisions that were forming? Apparently so. They are now paying the price, as is the rest of the country who has been listening.

The rise of Donald Trump's candidacy will be viewed in history books as the result of a period in our country when the split between the haves and have nots finally reached a boiling point. Trump is seizing the moment and capitalizing on the split. He tests his often divisive words and thoughts on the fly while whipping up frenzied crowds that validate his behavior. I believe a part of him is as surprised at his success as many others are, despite all his bravado. 

The Republican debates this year have provided vehicles for the candidates to show too little real political dialogue and too much hit and run word splash. Television has helped turn them into near Roman spectacles drawing millions of viewers, and giving Trump a home TV turf advantage. His reality show persona puts him totally at ease when performing in front of a camera, an audience, or both.

The obvious question now focuses on the future of Trump's candidacy. Last night's debate was the first time his dirty laundry began to be hung out to the public, and he took hits when being attacked. As prepared as he should have been, he sometimes appeared unprepared for a taste of his own medicine dished out by a newly aggressive Senator Marco Rubio.

Rubio took off his mantle of faltering under the heat of Trump’s continual put-downs, and came loaded with information ammunition. The kind that should have come out in the debates and campaign long ago. He went after Trump’s business practices, hiring of illegal immigrants to work on his construction sites, hiring foreigners instead of locals at his Palm Beach resort and the Trump University financial mess. It's all been there without being up for debate - until now.

Trump admitted in the post-debate spin room that his outrageous behavior, although he didn't use that word, has worked for him and gotten him to this point. Republicans have to ask themselves if that is what they want to continue rewarding.

Hillary Must Court Millennials: USA TODAY Column

 

                                      Previously Published in USA TODAY

Marilyn Salenger February 10, 2016

If the New Hampshire Primary isn’t Hillary Clinton’s mega ‘aha’ moment when it comes to her support among women voters, she’s going to face a far greater uphill challenge going forward. Her campaign has been playing off-key to those that she needs the most and those who should be her strongest supporters.

Bernie Sanders won women in New Hampshire by 53% to 46%, and racked up a striking 82% of Democratic women ages 18-29. Clinton’s strongest numbers came from women over 65. Young women vs. older women creates a dynamic and challenging political split. It’s been a surprising twist to some this year, but one that should have been expected.

Many young women I’ve spoken with believe that all of the doors of opportunity are open for them and are very surprised when they hear me say that too many remain closed. Millennial women unfortunately know too little about how hard so many of us worked to break the ground they now walk on. My perspective, and Clinton's, is history to them. They’re more interested in today. Maybe we were that way when we were their age. We just didn’t have political clout.

So how does Clinton create a world that feels shared sisterhood again, or Sisterhood 2.0, in an effort to try and salvage women’s support?

She can start by building bridges of commonality and understanding to young women, and making sure those who support and speak for her stop criticizing them if they choose another candidate. Clinton, of all people, should be the candidate of inclusiveness for women of all ages. That means not only respecting women and their choices, it requires adding more young women to her inner and outer circles.

As a young television news correspondent breaking my own ground, I covered the early days of the women’s movement because I thought it was important and none of the men wanted the assignment. I was living a large part of what the movement was talking about and felt the connection. It’s the kind of personal connection that has been missing in the Clinton campaign. You need to feel it to vote it.

Relatability has become the new likability factor in this political season, and it will play a major role in electing our next president. We want to see strength in our candidates, but when it comes to Clinton we also want to see vulnerability. A double standard? Absolutely, but reality as well. She showed a glimpse of her ability to reach us more personally during the recent televised New Hampshire Town Hall admitting, “This is hard for me. ... I never thought I'd be standing on a stage here asking people to vote for me for president. I always wanted to be of service.” That was Clinton talking with us, not to us, and it was a buy in key moment for many that night. She became relatable, more human. While it may not be instinctive for her, she has to show that side of herself consistently. Especially to young people.

Millennial women and men are feeling the headiness of being recognized as a new political force. They want to be wooed as an important voter demographic and to know that the candidates feel their pain. Sanders’ ability to do just that has been his strength. Clinton’s inability to touch their hearts and souls has been her weakness. To change this pattern going forward, Clinton has to step out of what has been her intellectual comfort zone of knowledge and experience and into a zone that's closer to young people and the issues they care about. That may help bring them to her, even if they don't understand why women like myself feel it is so important to elect the first woman president of the United States in 2016.

Marilyn Salenger, an Emmy-Award-winning news correspondent and anchorwoman, was the first woman hired by CBS for its newsroom in Cincinnati and the first woman to solo anchor a newscast in Boston, Mass. She also co-produced and anchored the first all-women’s television news program in the United States and was the first woman to hold the position of press secretary for a national presidential campaign (Alan Cranston's). Follow her on Twitter @MarilynSalenger. 

Dateline: New Hampshire

If the Hillary Clinton who took the stage at the New Hampshire Town Hall on Wednesday night is the Hillary Clinton we continue to see, she'll be well on her way to winning. What we saw was a woman who was unveiled. More open than can be remembered, more showing of her heart and personal feelings that most have seen. It's what many of her supporters and some undecided voters have been waiting a long time to see.

New Hampshire voters are some of the most well-informed in the country. In my days stumping their snowy hills with candidates, I was absolutely taken with how politically knowledgeable they were, and their Town Hall gathering last night showed that to the rest of the country. They asked questions of both Senator Bernie Sanders and Clinton that in many cases had not been asked by journalists. New Hampshirites asked them respectfully and opened up personally, which in turn opened up the candidates. Rare.

The audience was well spoken with an earnest desire to hear the answers. Whether it was the cancer patient asking Hillary about making end of life issues easier for people - a question she said had never been asked of her before. Or the Rabbi who asked how she handles humility and the ego necessary to run for political office prompting Clinton to respond, "Practice the discipline of gratitude. That has helped me enormously. I've had to be in public dealing with very personal issues." She continued along that personal path ... "My husband was such a natural. This is hard for me. It was about service not standing on stage when I began."

Sanders spoke about how his religious and spiritual feelings impact him. "My spirituality is that we're all in this together." And he brought an ease of humor and style. When asked about electability, "Voter turnout is key."

Addressing a key Clinton campaign issue focusing on why young women don't seem to be rallying to her support, she told Anderson Cooper, "I accept the fact that I have work to do to convey what I want to do. Whether they're for me or not, I'm for them." But it was the mother of five daughters in their 20’s who brought the issue home. "How can I get them to vote for you?" Clinton's response started slowly, talking about helping the young women learn about her record. Then she broke loose. "I'm going to try hard to break the hardest and strongest glass ceiling there is. I hope it will open doors for them." 

That's what electing the first female president has the potential to do. The New Hampshire Town Hall has now maximized its own potential as a role model for helping us substantively learn more about the candidates running for president of the United States.