Experts might reasonably agree that Donald Trump’s convention speech was too long. By the time he finished, it was difficult to remember what he’d promised.
His conviction was evident. To his additional credit, he made efforts to identify with his audience — as persuasive speakers tend to do. He demonstrated a pinch of humility and added a dash of humor when admitting he wasn’t sure he deserved evangelical support.
Repetition of key points can be useful in speeches. He employed this strategy. But, he took it too far with regard to his repeated emphasis on law and order. He topped this off with a promise scarily lacking specifics:
“Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied and every politician who has denied them to listen very closely to the words I am about to say: On January 20 of 2017, the day I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced.”
Will laws be enforced by locking up more people, especially the mentally ill? One implication is flexibility in law enforcement will cease. Are we to assume there will be no more warnings given out for minor infractions? Break the law and you’re going down!
Trump’s confidence in his ability to dictate immediate change, rather than work with a Congress never mentioned in the speech, bordered on delusional.
Conviction is a plus in public speaking. Pride to a fault is not. The latter is especially evident in this excerpt:
“Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.”
How does he know the system better than anyone else? Has he been part of its worst elements? How is it that only he can fix it? Where is the support for such a claim? It was hubris run amuck — a step too, too far.
