Lefsetz: How Trump Killed Hillary & Other Life Lessons

Politics is show business for ugly people…

But this year, the politicians are playing the game better than the entertainers.

You’ve got to be able to say no. That’s one thing a musician no longer is capable of. If you’re willing to pay, they’ll show up. They’ll even sing for dictators. There’s no endorsement they won’t sign on to. The whole enterprise is built on cash, and everybody wants some, in fact they want more.

But Elizabeth Warren won’t take corporate donations.

Leaving her potentially with less cash, but a stronger bond to the rank and file.

The North Vietnamese won the war because of hearts and minds. South Vietnam and the U.S. didn’t have them. America felt its firepower could conquer anybody, but this proved to be untrue, it couldn’t overcome the guerilla tactics of its opponent.

You play to everybody, not just those with the cash or the supposed power.

A cache of individuals can always exceed the power of the so-called “man.”

Especially today, when the tide is turning.

Everybody’s dealing with the results of globalization, and there are far more losers than winners, which is how Trump got elected to begin with. Doesn’t matter if you agree with the Donald’s position, or Warren’s, the future is up for grabs. And those who hew to their own identity and have a backbone ultimately succeed.

Warren refuses to go on Fox News.

She gives up eyeballs for beliefs. And this bonds her core to her even tighter. She’s not willing to do anything to make it, especially when it enriches an entity her adherents abhor. And you’ve got to be willing to do what is unpopular.

Once again, you have to stick to what you believe. Ergo, John Hickenlooper at last week’s Democratic confab in California. He was booed. He said using the word “socialism” would hand the election to Trump. That he was against Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal, at least for now.

Now we can argue all day about whether Hickenlooper is right, but the question is are you willing to say something unpopular?

The truth is, the audience was extremely left-leaning. Was it representative of the electorate at large?

But as a result of being booed, Hickenlooper got unforeseen traction. Suddenly he was all over the media. There was a lengthy article about him in the political paper of record, The Washington Post, because he made news. Furthermore, it wasn’t train-wreck news, but news that begged a lot of questions that were worth analyzing. So, Hickenlooper went from back of the pack to the front page without even contemplating it, he just said what was in his heart.

Once again, it doesn’t matter if you agree with him or not, that’s not the point, as with Warren above. The point is in this social media world where everything is manipulated, where the fat cats believe marketing is king, Hickenlooper succeeded in getting his message out and getting facetime/publicity by doing nothing other than hewing to his core beliefs.

Musicians are incapable of saying something unpopular, they’re afraid of alienating their audience, unless it’s to get in some online war with a competitor. Isn’t that how Meek Mill got notice?

Turns out triangulating – trying to second-guess the public – is no longer working in politics. That’s why Hillary lost – that’s why AOC defeated the incumbent. Everything’s up for grabs.

So the lessons are there. Stand your ground, be willing to do the unpopular, go with your identity, don’t follow the crowd. Because conventional wisdom is no longer smart. Now is the time for you to stand out.

But you must stand out with substance. Publicity stunts don’t work.

Especially in an era where if you shoot someone in the morning it’s no longer news in the afternoon. Hell, if you shoot a bunch of people it’s off the front page in a matter of days.

No, you’re building your identity to last. Who you are is what’s important. Entertainers can be leaders. Even though those on the other side keep telling them to stay in their own lane. And hell, that which is outside becomes mainstream overnight.

The Beatles sounded like nothing else that came before them, they wiped out Perry Como and the rest of the vapid singers. Nirvana killed the hair bands.

Trump killed Hillary.

Times change. You need to be willing to change. Hew to the past at your peril.

But your core values, those are what you’re judged on, those determine whether your success is lengthy or short.

Stand your ground.

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5 Responses to Lefsetz: How Trump Killed Hillary & Other Life Lessons

  1. LanceTheIntern says:

    Yeah…
    Pretty much lost me when you said Pocahontas was “…not willing to do anything to make it.”

    How does money from Brown Rudnick LLP (an international law firm and #5 on her list of top contributors) NOT count as a corporate donation?

    • Guy Who Says What Others Think says:

      More like Fauxchontas. Lefty-sez is a joke. But I am enjoying watching California turn into a steaming pile of shit. Heck, feces already litters the streets of San Francisco, along with used drug needles. Los Angeles has entire sections overrun with homeless camps. But if you listen to jerkoffs like Lefty-sez, California is some sort of utopia. I’d have to agree with the late Bill Hicks’ assessment and opinion of California. He couldn’t wait until California breaks off and sinks into the ocean, while the rest of us cheer the death of all the “lizard scum” and enjoy the wonderful view from Arizona Bay.

  2. Buttigieg 2020 says:

    https://votesmart.org/candidate/campaign-finance/141272/elizabeth-warren
    Top Contributors:
    1) Alphabet, Inc (Parent Company of Google)
    2) Brown Rudnick llp
    5) Lease Portfolio Recovery Services
    6) Yelp Inc
    7) Apple Inc
    8) Microsoft Corp

    …But she’s not taking corporate donations.
    Leftsetz, DO NOT listen to what politicians say — judge them by their actions.

    Personally, I’d vote for a politician who says “I’m taking corporate donations” BEFORE I’d vote for a politician who says “I won’t take corporate donations”, while the list of corporate donors they’ve accepted donations from is available for anyone who bothers to look…

    …But that’s just me.

  3. Feto says:

    “Musicians are incapable of saying something unpopular, they’re afraid of alienating their audience, unless it’s to get in some online war with a competitor. ”

    Ahem. Do Ted Nugent, Todd Rundgren, Bono, Dixie Chicks, Eric Church, or John Rich ring a bell for you? Try again with that statement.

  4. Guy Who Says What Others Think says:

    “Warren refuses to go on Fox News.

    She gives up eyeballs for beliefs. And this bonds her core to her even tighter. She’s not willing to do anything to make it, especially when it enriches an entity her adherents abhor. And you’ve got to be willing to do what is unpopular.”

    HAHAHAHAHAHA! As if going on FoxNews is “popular” with those on her side of the aisle. That statement alone makes you an ignoramus.

    You are going to have to win some votes from the right-center of the aisle. And you aren’t going to do that by pandering to the jerkoffs on MSNBC and CNN. Going on FoxNews to do a Townhall, IS unpopular with her base. But it just might sway some voters in the right center and left center.

    Andrew Yang might be the most interesting candidate right now, until the Libertarians awake from their slumber.

    On another note…how about Jon Stewart’s magnificient performance in front of congress? Nothing short of spectacular! Just tore those morons a new asshole. I loved it! He’s wrong on a lot of other things regarding politics, but he was dead on the money with that rant. Well done, good sir!

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