What’s in a slogan? Make America _______ Again

The moment Lester Holt announced that Donald Trump had won Ohio, my heart sank.

Like most in my chosen community of peers and media (my admitted “Echo Chamber”), my first reaction was, “This can’t be happening.” Then came the anger. Then came the fear. I wondered how many others cried in the shower Wednesday morning before work.

A few days passed and the thought of “President-Elect Trump” continued (and continues) to dominate my thoughts. But recently my cerebrum began to overtake my limbic system. Instead of simply reacting to what happened, I started to ponder how and why it happened. I hope to soon graduate onto what to do next.

But for now, the how and the why.

While the reasons are too many and too complex for a single blog post, the marketer in me had to consider this year’s campaign slogans.

A little over a year ago I moved to Pensacola, Florida. The Panhandle. The Bible Belt. It may as well be a continuation of Southern Alabama. In other words, it’s Red Country.

This election cycle was an interesting time to live in Pensacola. Trump held three rallies here. These rallies were covered by the local news. I watched and wondered what could make people want to vote for Donald Trump. The newscasters asked.

After over a year of news coverage, the two most overwhelmingly popular answers to the question “Why do you support Donald Trump?” were:

1.     Because Hillary’s a crook

2.     Because he’s going to Make America Great Again

Almost none gave an answer regarding policy or platform. The responses were mostly anti-Hillary or a regurgitation of that one vague sentence stitched on so many red hats.

So, what’s in a campaign slogan?

“I’m With Her” was about just that: Her. It was not about the voter. It did not resonate with anyone other than her stalwarts. It lacked the central themes that have been successful in every winning presidential campaign slogan since 1992 (and many before it): Hope and Change.

1992, Bill Clinton: "It's Time to Change America"
1996, Bill Clinton: "Building a Bridge to the Twenty-First Century" 
2000, George W. Bush: “Reformer with Results”
2004, George W. Bush: “A Safer World and a More Hopeful America"
2008, Barack Obama: "Change We Can Believe In” ; “Hope”
2012, Barack Obama: "Forward"

Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again”, was the first since Ronald Reagan’s all-too-similar 1980 “Let’s Make America Great Again” to offer not progressive hope, but backward change. It tapped into the frustration of many Americans between the coasts. It strategically used an amorphous word (“Great”) that was interchangeable with whatever synonym an individual wanted it to be. It allowed for personalization—what does “Great” mean to you? That word inspired hope in every embittered individual to make it whatever they wanted it to mean for their country.

And there’s arguably an even more operative word in his slogan: “Again”.

The difference between the 1992-2012 slogans and Trump’s is that the formers looked forward to the progress and advancement of the nation, while Trump’s distinctly tapped into one of the most powerful human emotions: nostalgia. Trump promised to Make America _______ Again. He promised to bring back whatever so many Americans held dear and perceived to have lost.

For those afraid of America’s evolving ethnic and racial demography, it meant Make America White Again.

For those who feel threatened by radical Islam and terrorism, it meant Make America Christian Again.

For those who haven’t felt the economic recovery from the Great Recession, it meant Make America Work Again.

For those afraid they would soon have to give up their guns, it meant Make America Armed Again.

For those who saw their health insurance premiums triple under a forced centralized health insurance system, it meant Make America Self-Determining Again.

For those threatened by marriage equality and the normalization of LGBTQ, it meant Make America Straight Again.

For those whose traditional energy and manufacturing Rust Belt jobs are disappearing, it meant Make America Need My Trade Again.

For those uncomfortable by the continuing empowerment of women and jurisdiction over their own bodies, it meant Make America Misogynistic Again.

Donald Trump sold Americans on the nostalgia of “the good ol’ days.” He tapped into the large part of America—the 2,500 miles or so between coasts—that is scared of social progress and equality, the people who see their worlds disappearing.

Simultaneously living digitally/long-distance in my past liberal world and in Pensacola provided a stark contrast between two very different Americas—the one my mostly progressive friends and family in the Bay Area, LA and Boston perceive, and the one that the Panhandle and the rest of the nation perceive.

As I scroll through my newsfeeds and have conversations with my friends and family on the coasts, I see a subset of the American population in disbelief and disgust that Donald Trump could be elected as Commander-in-Chief of this country. I see an army angry and ready to influence change, in two years and then four.

To this subset, I encourage you to spend some time in Middle America, in Red States. Talk to Trump supporters. Familiarize yourself with their frustrations, their grievances. Ask for their point of view, and don’t push yours onto them. If we want any chance in 2018 and 2020, we need to stop seeing most of the U.S. as “Flyover States” and start considering how they fit into a progressive America, too. Solutions start with understanding. Like it or not, it's their reality. And it's the reality of enough of the nation to elect Donald J. Trump.