Democrat strategist Steve Schale weighs in on the latest scandal / travesty / train wreck / nightmare / fantasy or whatever the latest hyperbole is now aimed / blamed on Trump / his family / business deals / ex-wives / etc. by Democrats and #NeverTrumpers. Of course the Trump campaign denies that Melania’s speech was plagiarized. Read Steve’s experienced take here:
Steve Schale
I’ve written a fair number of speeches in my career. Anyone worth their salt who has written understands the intentional nature of speechwriting — particularly a speech designed to be delivered to a major audience. Every word, every pause, and every transition is considered. You play it out in your head — you have the principal practice it. Nothing is unintentional. Nothing. Ever.
Whoever wrote Melania Trump’s speech knew what they were doing – they were sabotaging the moment. They wrote a speech that they knew cribbed not only from Michelle Obama, but also from Rick Astley — the latter of which is the dead giveaway. And honeslty if they didn’t do it as intentional sabotage, then the Trump campaign is a bigger goat show than we all thought.
I suspect the speech shibacle had one of two goals: Either, the campaign itself wanted to marginalize her following reports that she was unhappy with the way the VP selection went — or, some disgruntled speechwriter/comms staffer is just over the campaign and wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. To believe the third option, that this was just an accident, would be to believe that the Trump campaign is being run with the competence of a dysfunctional city council campaign — and one completely unprepared to run a national government.
Very few things in campaigns are secrets, so I suspect we will learn what happened in the next 24 hours. And no, I don’t think the moment will have a single impact on the actual campaign. However, it does provide just another insight into just how bad the Trump campaign is at this politics thing.
I genuinely feel bad for her. All in all, she did quite well in a space for which few are comfortable. Sadly for her, that’s not what anyone will remember.