"That's business" and "that's called being smart": Trump's gift to Clinton

[All Along The Watchtower]

Hillary and her surrogates (Bill, the Obamas, Biden, and others) seriously need to take advantage of these statements, along with any others that demonstrate just how out-of-touch Trump is with the "little people."

Remember, one of the things that really hurt Romney (another "smart successful businessman" candidate) was the "47%" comment. This shows that American voters at heart, want a populist champion (whether real or perceived) of ordinary, working people and families - which is something that the Party of Business and Money has successfully exploited in recent decades.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the only two Democratic Presidents since Reagan were elected during economic recessions and where their Republican opponents were widely perceived to be out of touch on the domestic economy (John McCain's multiple houses and his statements like "the fundamentals of the economy are strong", George H.W. Bush being more concerned with foreign policy than with the economic distress of working and middle class Americans).

Not only is the economy (stupid) of paramount importance in presidential elections, but Democrats win when they can successfully capitalize on when Republicans seem (or are) unconcerned with the economic situation of the voting public. Not only does that feed into the classic image of the Republican Party as the Party of Business and Money, but - just as importantly - it gives the Democrats an opening to assert their populist, anti-elitist qualities (as demonstrated recently by Bill Clinton in both of his general election campaigns, President Obama in both of his general election campaigns, Bernie Sanders in this year's Democratic primaries, and yes, Hillary Clinton - increasingly, at least - in her campaign this year) and furthermore, disassociate themselves from the perception  of "elitism" that candidates like Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, and John Kerry contributed to (or even Walter Mondale in 1984, when he said "I will raise your taxes" - which is all that people needed to hear to conclude that Mondale was a big-government, tax-and-spend liberal or whatever).

Again, this is a gift to the Democrats. They would be wise to take advantage of it, and milk it for all it's worth.