Trump is a bully. I was taught that there are several methods to deal with bullies.
Sometimes you should just ignore them – you can’t jump at every provocation, and sometimes responding just feeds them, they realize they are getting to you, and keep on going.
Sometimes you need to make fun of them and expose them for who they really are.
And sometimes you need to strongly hit back and punch them and make it clear they shouldn’t mess with you.
I’ve come to believe that the best Democratic candidate to take on Trump is going to be the one who most realizes that there will be a time and a place to deploy each of these methods. And that takes a lot of emotional intelligence, to be level-headed and realize which technique to deploy.
Obama was amazing at this.
Watching Elizabeth Warren reveal her DNA results proving she had some ancestry that was Native American was painful, because I felt she misread the situation, and it was an opportunity to ignore, not to jump and respond.
Warren isn’t the only one. I’ve seen other candidates deploy mock rage during senate hearings that came across as over-the-top.
I’ve seen candidates respond to jeers that might require a humorous rebuttal in turn with silence or talking points.
Biden seems good at this: I remember his performance in the VP debate in 2012 where he often just straight up laughed at Paul Ryan’s ridiculous claims.
Curious to see who else has the proper demeanor to deal with Trump.
David Litwak 