and I am provoked to write this after hearing far too many times about how she is the GOP’s expert at doing outreach to women. I am also provoked further by seeing/reading/hearing about her performance after the debate.
and I am using the png put up by Hal Brown because it was all I quickly found in the library with Conway’s face
So let’s look at one of her tweets
To me, that makes it clear that Trump was intending to be in frame behind her. At one point he looked at someone in the back, pointed, then kind of nodded, and moved closer to her, looking down at the floor as if he were trying to find a mark.
Here is one pushback against her evaluation of the debate:
But there were also tweets by others in response to what she was saying on TV after the debate:
She clearly does understand the damage of “sexual assault.” I know my own immediate reaction about her saying that he has always been a gentleman to her was to note that she is over his cutoff age of 35, and given how he rates women she probably would not rate as higher than a 5.
Let me pivot to two of her tweets during the debate:
Fact checkers debunked that in real time.
fact checkers found Clinton mostly true last night. And Conway, who has a law degree and clerked for a Federal judge, attempting to portray Clinton’s responses last night as “lawyerly” is absurd.
But there is something much more important.
Conway has worked a lot of places, including in her past at least for a while for Frank Luntz before founding her own firm. She actually knows about polling, and has done a fair amount in the commercial rather than the political arena. In politics, she is more of a strategist and communicator.
But just because she has managed to push herself to the front and gets lots of air time does not mean she is particularly effective in outreach to women.
Most people who pay attention know she started this cycle working for Ted Cruz. She was brought to the Trump campaign along with Breitbart’s Steve Bannon, by former Cruz moneyman Robert Mercer and his daughter. Note that association with Bannon, who has a personal history that makes him a good match for the likes of Trump, Giuliani, Ailes, and others when it comes to dealing with women. Also note that Cruz’s approach to politics is not one that had particular appeal to most women, even Republican women, except to some degree in contrast with Trump, whose personal behavior is far worse. In Cruz’s case it was his policies that were offensive to many women.
It is also probably worth noting that Conway’s husband was part of the legal team in the lawsuit Paula Jones filed against Bill Clinton. That means she should know that Trump’s statement about an “$850,000 fine” is false — the case was originally dismissed, but eventually settled, with all but $200,000 going to pay Jones’s legal fees.
There is however one far greater tell, and that is a Senate Race that Republicans lost because of the candidate’s mouth. Conway was in a major role on Senate campaign of Todd “legitimate rape” Akin. Akin plummeted after that remark, and nothing his campaign said or did could turn that around. Oh yes, and he was running against a woman, for what it is worth.
Conway was clearly part of the circle that decided to “go there” last night with Juanita Broaddrick and crew. That series of stunts is something that most women are going to find offensive. Similarly, when she tried to deflect from “sexual assault” and to provide Trump with cover by saying he was always a gentleman to her, that belittles the visceral reaction many women have had to the Access Hollywood tape, with the attitude demonstrated by Trump that reminds too many women of their own experiences, some of which were quite scarring.
I do not view Conway as a genius in outreach to women. If she is the best the Republican party has to offer to reach women, the Republican party will get its head handed to it come November 8.
Just saying.