When I tell people that I wrote a book on Donald Trump, I receive one of two predictable responses.
Some people cry out something like, “What? Why on earth would you write a book about ‘that man?'” Most others have a less visceral reaction, but almost everyone wants to know, what is it about?
It is about WINNING.
Truth is, politics is not a sport I enjoy following, nor have I ever followed Donald. I am no Trump “groupie,” I have never watched his TV show, and over the years I’ve paid scant attention to the man.
But, on August 6, 2015, that changed.
Sitting amongst a group of political-types, watching the first debate in Cleveland Ohio, Donald did something wizardly that caught my attention.
Not one to start with a soft ball, in the first question served to this man with almost zero political experience, Megyn Kelly asked Trump That Question:
“You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals…How will you answer the charge…that you are part of the war on women?”
Right out of the gates, confronted immediately with a campaign-busting question, what did Trump do?
First, controlling the “frame,” he interrupted the question with a crowd-roaring response, “Only Rosie O’Donnell,” cutting Kelly’s frame down to size.
In this invisible move, Donald took Kelly’s accusation of how he treats women and asserted his frame: it was just one woman (while gesturing with his right index finger).
While, to most observers this floats by, in three words Trump de-clawed the question, brought the crowd onto his side, and began his process of moving towards his messaging.
Next, after Kelly had finished her question, Trump invoked another masterful move:
“The big problem this country has is being politically correct.” While doing this, he gestures in a big fashion, accentuating the “big problem.”
Here, Donald reframed the problem away from his comments about women, to one of his key campaign messages, the problem of political correctness.
If Donald had only made those two moves, I would have been impressed, but Donald was just getting started:
“I don’t have time for total political correctness and, quite frankly, this country doesn’t either. We don’t win anymore… This country is in big trouble… We lose to China, we lose to Mexico.”
Here, Donald repeated and deepened the problem of political correctness before redirecting us to the real problem, one of his rally cries: “We don’t win anymore.”
Then, finally, from here, Donald moved us toward his solution:
“We need strength, we need energy and we need brain in this country to turn it around.”
In all, in the span of one minute, Donald maneuvered from the biting accusation against him and his comments about women to two of his campaign messages.
While many politicians, pundits, and observers remain dumbfounded by Donald and are desperately trying to rationalize how he has easily demolished a once-crowded Republican field, from my vantage point the answer is obvious.
Donald is a highly skilled winner. And, more importantly in this game we call an election, he is a wizard of influence.
My book is not about politics or Donald. It is about the underlying game of politics, mass influence, and a man with a wizardly approach to winning.