The Reelection of Donald Trump: Dawn of a New Era of Political Communication

The reelection of Donald Trump as 47th President of the United States of America is truly a landmark moment. An impressive and virtually unprecedented political comeback in recent history. And a resounding lesson echoing far beyond the borders of the US.

Donald Trump’s election victory on November 6 shows off the American dream that the real estate mogul-turned-billionaire superstar-turned-president-turned-felon-turned-president kind of already embodied for many around the world. This comeback has been praised by many media outlets but most of them only viewed it as a question of popularity. But there is real substance which Vice President and Democrat candidate Kamala Harris and her team sorely missed: their own people.

The world is a very scary and tragically fragile place right now. We at The Long Brief have long been saying that the many sources of risks with the constant wars, disputes and public discourse that is in many places fast approaching the utterly disgusting do not just result in an unstable and almost unpredictable international order but it all has dire consequences for the citizens – not citizens of the world but actual people.

This is where Kamala Harris and her team were gravely wrong: they really should not have campaigned for citizens of the world – instead, they should have campaigned for their own people.

Kamala’s calling words – democracy, a new start, climate change, LGBTQ rights –, however noble they all were, were simply idealistic, ideological phrases. Abstracts that really went past by true problems – inflation, immigration and immediate security and safety in all the senses of these words.

If the world is going in an increasingly Hobbesian direction, Hobbesian promises have to be made and made in a simple manner, drawn up along the highest common denominator: I will protect you, I will lead you, I will make your – and only your – lives better.

And here I am: saying words like Hobbesian could have surely lost me a presidential election. So let me rephrase: in the world of today, to get as many voters as you want, you have to say things not more complicated than what a used car salesman would say about the vehicles for sale.

Trump and his team definitely realized this and acted on it fairly quickly and early-on in the race. At the same time, on the Demoratic side, the party was busy with trying to persuade the frail Joe Biden to step back.

Coupled with a set of truly dramatic events – and the ensuing, eye-wateringly perfect communication – and a campaign that in general stayed on the safer side, with very down-to-earth messaging, “the star of Home Again 2” prevailed and really gave a win for the history books.

The problems however still persist. And it will take a lot, a lot of work.