It's why Trump pulled even with Clinton (goo.gl/ftSylN). Why Facebook Live is making inroads on YouTube. And why Snapchat is a juggernaut.
The elites tell us it's all about preparation. For the test. First in school, then in business. Mistakes are not tolerated, and if you commit a faux pas you must apologize.
But Donald Trump is doing none of this.
Hillary Clinton's campaign is like a military assault, with a zillion troops staying on message, believing in the old saw of the ground game and that all politics are local. Whereas Trump has no infrastructure and has thrown the rule book out. If this doesn't remind you of how the Vietcong triumphed over the United States you weren't alive back then. The U.S. was better organized with a bigger army it's just that it could not adjust to guerilla warfare.
Yesterday's big story was the Calvin Harris/Taylor Swift brouhaha. It was hard to peel your eyes away, because Calvin was shooting from the hip with his heart and emotions out front. Even Katy Perry weighed in.
Rappers release mixtapes. Knowing that raw and dangerous is appealing.
Image is no longer everything, identity is. You want to be three-dimensional, you want to stand for something. Which is why movie stars have faded. Groomed by the studios and publicists there's no there there. There's nothing to hold on to or react to.
Life is about choices. What to wear, what to eat, where to go... And if you pondered each one in advance, trying to get it exactly right, you'd be left far behind, you'd barely make it out of your house. You forget your keys, your wallet, you say the wrong thing to a friend or business colleague. But you also crack a joke and give a wink and evidence your humanity and that's what makes people stick to you.
Think about it, the younger generation is addicted to online influencers. Whose videos are far from professional, that's their appeal, they're shot in bedrooms, you feel like you know those people. That if you ran into them you could gossip, and never forget, the world runs on gossip.
The Republicans are all about gotcha. And that's why the elite lost control of their party.
The Clintons think it's 1995 and most people have no internet access, never mind a smartphone. Trump is tweeting and the Clintons are sending mailers.
Even Ruth Bader Ginsburg... Ignore the blowback. Her statements about Trump burnished her image more than any Supreme Court opinion. She suddenly looked real. All the balderdash about the dignity of the Court was just that, irrelevant gobbledygook. She's my hero. Less because of the content of her statements than the fact she showed emotion, she expressed an identity. And that's everything in today's world.
Display your rough edges. Don't worry so much about getting it right. If you're in the public eye you've got to appeal to us as a person.
This is a sea change, and the older generation doesn't get it.
It's no longer business as usual. Society moves much more quickly and is much more fluid and you're better off jumping into the pool and flailing till you find your stroke as opposed to sitting on the sidelines practicing until you get it right.
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