Dealing with people in victim roles is difficult. I noticed that in my private life. The only effective strategy is silence. Near total silence. Sometimes an answer cannot be avoided. It’s best to keep such answers brief and polite. Obviously, any answer is what these people have been waiting for as it allows them to draw you into a new debate which you cannot win. Why? There’s no objective truth. Any fact becomes an opinion. Their twisted minds work in “wonderful” ways.
In Politics dealing with leaders in a victim role (eg, Russia, Trump, Turkey) is even harder. A verbal attack on such leaders is not an option as that will only reinforce their victim role. Discussions with such leaders are also meaningless as there is no truth to be found. Such leaders either deny, deliver plain lies, or even say that “everything I say now is just a suggestion” (Politico). Clearly, there is no debate, no discussion, just noise. And any media attention works in their advantage.
Ignoring people in a victim role doesn’t mean that they will give up their harassment against you. Certainly not. They will always be planning a next move. Forget about anticipating such a move. Their creative twisted minds will typically surprise you. Nevertheless, their intentions are always the same: negative attention. Alleged or real skeletons in your closet are their blessing (eg, Trump accuses Cruz’s father of helping JFK’s assassin).
I doubt that the current Hillary Clinton can win from Donald Trump. She is in the middle of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders and gets attacked from both sides. Bernie Sanders could perhaps win as he tells his own story. However, I doubt that the majority of the USA is ready for his message.
How could Hillary Clinton win from Donald Trump? One route I see is mimicking the campaign of Bernie Sanders: tell your own genuine story and don’t get distracted by others. The problem is that she doesn’t have a genuine story – yet. In the absence of a genuine story, she becomes vulnerable. She cannot promise change (eg, Obama) as she’s the embodiment of the exact opposite.
Mimicking the victim role of Donald Trump could be a very interesting strategy and it might even work. The American public actually liked the fragile version of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primaries (Guardian, YouTube). The tough version is not very much liked and also appears to be the dominant and genuine version. The soft-to-tough 1979 make-over of Margaret Thatcher is still a classic (video) and could perhaps be successfully reversed in Hillary Clinton’s case.
In my view, playing the “woman card” would be much more successful when femininity is added and toughness is lost. Essentially, Hillary Clinton should adopt the role of Michelle Obama: beauty, brains, grace, and style. Or Dutch Queen Maxima (2016 Time Magazine Top 100). An unbeatable “woman card”. Perhaps, Michelle Obama could even be the next VP and future President.
The Danish PM recently said: “Donald Trump changes opinions like others change underwear” (Politico). Clearly, it’s useless to even try debating with him on policy matters. The best strategy is ignoring him in combination with a reverse Thatcher make-over. Playing the woman card does not require focussing on women. Donald Trump is perfectly able to alienate his female voters. Playing the woman card requires femininity and vulnerability. That may actually undermine Trump’s group of largely white male voters. Good luck.
The Style Council – Long hot summer (1983) – artists, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
I’m all mixed up inside
I want to run but I can’t hide
And however much we try
We can’t escape the truth and the fact is
Don’t matter what I do
It don’t matter what I do
Don’t matter what I do
Don’t matter what I do
Don’t matter what I do
‘Cause I end up hurting you
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