Democrats Go Nuclear On Trump

They break out the threat of nuclear war, but the bomb fizzles

With a mushroom cloud and at least $5 million worth of TV airtime behind it, the new ad from the pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC Priorities USA is sure to stand out in a crowded political landscape.

The ad fits with Democrats’ message that Trump is, as Priorities USA spokesperson Justin Barasky said, “too unpredictable and too dangerous to ever be President of the United States.”

Like the Clinton campaign’s official ads, it takes a page from President Lyndon Johnson’s campaign against Barry Goldwater in 1964. Back then, the invocation of nuclear war to scare voters was considered so controversial that Johnson’s camp quickly pulled an ad featuring a mushroom cloud. But the ad, “Daisy,” generated so much discussion that it went on to be considered one of the most successful and famous political ads of all time.

The problem is the country is so polarized that the K-selected half of it says, “All of the major cities being reduced to rubble sounds like a good idea. It would probably solve a lot of our nation’s problems in one fell swoop.”

The other half is so stupid it thinks mushroom clouds are pretty and the radioactive snow would probably be fun to play in.

That threat only works on a nation with functional amygdalae, who doesn’t hate the people who are going to die. We are now too polarized, so it won’t work.

More and more I am thinking Cialdini has grown so partisan left that he has lost the ability to connect with the majority of the nation. His persuasion is perfect for moving liberal rabbits, but not so good at working in an increasingly K-world.

Their candidate is a half step away from keeling over dead, live on camera, their persuasion expert seems totally clueless about how people think right now, and Donald – the master persuader, is their opponent, crafting novel attacks on the fly every day.

It is not possible for the Democrats to be more screwed.