'I'm a Republican: I think Trump has had a truly great year'
He has a sixth-sense of how strategic presidential moves pull eyeballs on social media, says our guest writer.
Monday 22 January 2018 10:34, UK
Has Trump had a good first year? Yes, he has. In fact, he has had a truly great year, writes Oliver McGee, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton.
In Trump I believe we elected a brawler into the White House that will fight for the US each and every day - and that is why the past 12 months are only the start of his success as President.
But before I list my reasons for thinking this, in the interests of full transparency, I must state, I am a Republican. I used to be a Democrat - I was US deputy assistant secretary of transportation for technology policy (1999-2001) in the Clinton Administration, and former senior policy adviser in the Clinton White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (1997-1999).
But to many people's surprise, it was in the "age of Obama" that I switched to being a Republican – and I am really glad – because President Trump is now doing exactly what the GOP needs.
Trump basically has three powers: to sign, to appoint, but most of all, to persuade. Where Reagan was "the great communicator", Trump is "the media innovator".
Trump's power of persuasion includes his international media staging mastery - like this week's "Trump's 'Fake News' Awards".
His staging mastery rest on his keen knowledge and sixth-sense of how strategic presidential moves drive ratings on broadcast media and pull eyeballs on social media. And whether the media like it or not, the Trump White House is a 'ratings machine' - for ratings are the mother’s milk of media.
Trump politics and the media is a nasty business, a nasty marriage - with all the good, the bad, and the ugly that comes with it. So, we must settle in and get used to it. I am, and always have been, period! Why? Because it’s exciting to watch the fireworks! They’re beautiful to watch, aren’t they?
But no matter how well Trump is doing, we won’t stop the press from going with their stories - some of which have been debunked and proven to be false - to grab eyeballs on social media or readers on print media or viewers on broadcast media.
Trump is frustrated (sometimes even irritated on Twitter) by the double standards set by the left-leaning media, constantly laying down for the Democratic National Committee, yet feverishly fighting back against the Republican National Committee.
With that said, here's what I’m openly saying to those President Trump detractors at those dinner parties on my Twitter account @OliverMcGee.
But also, Trump's presidential persuasion powers goes beyond Presidents Jefferson and Jackson in extending how the modern White House shapes public opinion and discourse instantaneously as modern international markets move global prosperity!
Presidents and monarchs have always been innovative in their uses of advancements in communication technologies to bypass conventional means of communications to extend their power of persuasion to the people.
Specifically, examples include President Thomas Jefferson on print media, United Kingdom's King George VI and President Calvin Coolidge on radio, President Franklin Roosevelt on his radio fireside chats, United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II and President Harry Truman on television, President Bill Clinton on the Internet, and now President Donald Trump on social media via Twitter.
Like his father and grandfather, the President loves businesses. This love of the business of America and how America works is what Trump firmly believes is what makes the US so extraordinary and exceptional for the world. Trump’s transparent economic policy has transformed American workers and entrepreneurs from job-seekers into job-creators and job-holders.
The numbers talk for themselves. America's economy has now gained over $8 trillion of new wealth and created nearly 2 million new jobs for the lowest unemployment levels at just above 4% in 17 years, and the lowest black and Hispanic unemployment levels ever (from historically double white unemployment levels at 8% to now just 6%).
In December, the US Senate passed the $1.5TTax Cuts and Jobs Act in a 51-48 vote, followed by a passage in the US House in a 224-201 vote. This historic piece of legislation was sent to President Trump's desk and signed on December 23 - all wrapped up before Christmas.
According to a New York Times survey this week, 46% of Americans approve of President Trump's $1.5 trillion tax cuts package with 80% of Americans receiving a tax cut in 2018. With this, approval rating for President Trump among black likely voters have doubled. This figure has the President's opponents on the left worried, since he had only garnered 8% of black voters on Election Day.
In 2018 he is moving on to a historic infrastructure package and a bipartisan immigration reform, which includes building that wall, as his campaign promised his voters. But even without the wall yet in place, his message has clearly already made a difference - according to the Department of Homeland Security, the US is now experiencing a 45-year low in illegal border crossings.
The President believes America cannot lead the world in innovation, if we isolate ourselves from global markets and if we limit our global partners from having full access to ours. But also, the President feels we must broker the best trade deals we can get from other countries, while ensuring America doesn’t continue to be ripped off by other countries. And this is not just words - the President has put it into practice. As barges arrive at America's ports from China loaded with goods for Wal-Mart, President Trump’s fair trade policies ensures that those barges return back to China’s ports loaded with cars from Michigan for Beijing.
:: All you need to know about Trump's incredible first year in power
But don't just take it from me - again the numbers speak for themselves - under Trump, there's emerged a 17-year record boost in consumer and business confidence. Trump is doing so well, because as we pull up to the kitchen table to discuss our authentic issues that affect our daily lives with the President, we know deep inside our hearts that we will never bet against him fighting for "us".
On December 21, President Trump sent buses to Congress and rounded up GOP lawmakers to stand beside him at the White House in celebration of the biggest, most historic piece of legislation on tax reform beyond Reagan or Roosevelt. I believe that was the day when the GOP came back home to "stand in the leadership gap" between its core values of the "Grand Ole Party", and the practical reality of American populism under Trumpism.
In Trump's inaugural year, he has brought the "art of modern celebrity" inside The White House - way beyond conventional Hollywood and New York establishment - and that really gets under "some folks' skin". This is mainly because the Trump brand is irreproducible and is a competitive advantage for America. Trump believes that like him, America is a winner. And this is fundamentally why he is doing so very well.
:: Oliver McGee, PhD, MBA, CFRM, AFWCI, is former US deputy assistant secretary of transportation for technology policy (1999-2001) in the Clinton Administration, and former senior policy adviser in the Clinton White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (1997-1999). He authored in 2012 the book, Jumping The Aisle - How I Became A Black Republican In The Age Of Obama.