Twitter, tough talk and (sorry) Trump again

As there is an abundance of attention on Trump and his various campaigning techniques, I wanted to avoid talking about him for a while -- I was going to talk Clinton this time. In light of his recent "Fox debate boycott," however, I cannot ignore -- for the purpose of discussing the mobilization of followers -- his decision. 

Sorry Hillary, you'll have to wait.

Picture from humanevents.com

Trump does two things very well: Make waves and -- for lack of a better term -- sling poo. He does these two things well in two ways: Tweets and speeches.

Using his debate boycott as an example, let's discuss the "make waves" and "speech" points. Trump has, no doubt, been quite a ratings booster for many news media outlets. He has made statements that have been made into headlines, made claims that have sparked impassioned debates and, for some, boosted debates' entertainment value. His lack of political correctness has appealed to the masses, who feel that Americans have become "soft" and who want to hear that extreme change will come about, right now. Trump gives his followers these extreme statements and gives them a call to action, which his slogan, "Make America Great Again" embodies. His latest call to action was sparked by his refusal to participate in Thursday's Fox debate over long-standing disagreements with network officials. He challenged after announcing his absence, "Let's see how the ratings do."

Many Trump supporters have taken this call to action to heart and are boycotting the debate themselves. Trump has doubled-down on his call by announcing the creation of a fundraiser for veterans and the Wounded Warrior Project to be put on during the debate -- Trump's goal seems to be to pull more attention away from Fox. Such seemingly irrational moves on a candidate's part have been consistently benefiting Trump, proving that he has created a high-spirited, highly impressionable and highly mobilized follower base.

In Joseph Tuman's, "Political Communication in American Campaigns," Tuman suggests, "[Speech] effectiveness will depend on the audience; we are not all affected by ethos, pathos, and logos in the same ways." Tuman also suggests that a speaker/candidate has to know his/her audience -- something that leaves a bad taste in my mouth to have to admit, Trump does well.

In the case of "slinging poo" on Twitter -- well, see for yourself. Trump, as I have mentioned before, does well to make himself more desirable by making other candidates less desirable. The content of his tweets are not the only part of his Twitter usage that has, thus far, benefited him. The amount of tweets that Trump puts out daily, praising himself, attacking others and relaying plans is stifling compared to the other candidates' pages. Typically, the candidate with the most coverage will receive the most support. 

So, a recap: Trump captures media coverage for free by making outrageous claims and statements, puts doubt in voters minds as to the reliability and ability of other candidates and mobilizes his followers with calls to action.

While Trump may have benefited immensely from his wild claims in the campaign season, I have to believe that voters will come to the conclusion that the same candidate who so skillfully "slings poo" at other candidates may not be the best choice to win the whole thing. 

So Mr. Trump, my advice to you is this: Unless you can handle quite a bit of global backlash, maybe you should quit while you're ahead -- some foreign leaders may not be so afraid to sling more than just "poo" back.