Notebook: The need to communicate

EDITORIAL MUG: Larry Anderson

Ronald Reagan understood the power of communication and achieved it with the relaxed ease of a man with a hefty background in radio, television and films. Indeed, he was labeled The Great Communicator for good reason. He got his message across and was awarded the presidency twice.

Reagan was popular with all but the miserable left, and his ability to clarify had a lot to do with it. His voice resonated with authority and purpose, his language was patriotic without fervor, and there was no question he meant what he said. World leaders got the message because it was clear. He remains one of our best presidents and one of the last of The Greatest Generation, so proven by deed and word.

Much has changed in the realm of communication since Reagan’s day, especially with the advent of social media. Nevertheless, candidates must engage the voters to win. Reagan understood that in his day and Donald Trump understands it now. Not so much for Kamala Harris, but that failure had as much to do with the message as the means.

You may have noticed during the campaign that Donald Trump spoke to his vast audiences while Harris spoke at her often skimpy ones. It was an attitudinal thing, but it also had to do with political understanding. There is a difference between exciting an audience to action and droning on and on about how failure is really success. We weren’t that easy to fool and resented the effort. Contempt entered. Dismissal followed. Adios Kamala.

It is evident Trump actually enjoys people and expresses that with genuine enthusiasm. Harris seems to view audiences the way a pedantic marm judges restless children. Harris’s demands and expectations never caught up with the nation’s understanding of economic woes, international brinkmanship, and absent leadership on her and Biden’s part. Presumption led to failure. So did the wrong message at the wrong time. Harris modeled both.

Americans don’t like to be overlooked, dismissed or taken for granted by anyone. Trump’s message was inclusive for all willing to participate; Harris’s threw aside those who didn’t align categorically. The result was a reshuffling of demographics and a realignment of geographic loyalties. The Upper Midwest, for example, broke for Trump this time. It would be good if that continued.

Indeed, the election map is remarkably red with only pockets of foolishness here and there and a few states that could break next time. These are where Trump should concentrate his extended message for the good of his legacy and party. He should spend time in the Northeast and on the Pacific coast, for instance, and strive to bring them into the fold. They are ripening, and America is increasingly independent in thought and vote.

Donald Trump only has one term remaining, but he is already hard at work keeping the country from eating itself. The man has boundless energy, and a catalog of woes with which to deal. He has met his enemies, but they must not be us this round. We should be his boosters, observant but patient, helpful rather than endlessly critical, and constructive of our nation instead of participating in its breakdown. We have our work to do to.

Trump should help by communicating by word as well as deed. He should come on television at least twice a year and inform the public what he is doing and how he is getting it done. He should state his priorities and goals and identify those who strive for failure over the nation’s success. He can defeat the language of the left by disproving it with his presence and his message. I hope he will do that.

It’s important to keep in touch with those who hired you because popularity is a fleeting thing, and Americans aren’t renowned for their patience.

Larry W. Anderson is a

retired educator.