In “The Waldo Moment,” the protagonist, James Salter, jokingly competes in a by-election as an animated bear named Waldo in a comedy T.V. series that regularly mocks authoritative figures. Although their campaigns were similar, Waldo and Donald Trump are not fully comparable. In both political scenarios, Waldo and Trump lack experience, but Trump carries a more decorated past as a successful and influential businessman, whereas Waldo is a character in a comedy series whose goal is to mock and humilate authoritative figures regularly. Trump has wrongfully insulted and humiliated people in the past, but so has the majority of people living in America, including President Barack Obama. For example, at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, he humiliated Trump, a guest at the event, to which the televised audience roared in laughter. Obama was not labeled as a “bully” and was largely given a pass, while Trump sat and smirked and after five years, now has Obama’s job. The mentality by many before Trump’s victory, was that his insults and humiliating efforts of the past made him unsuitable to be president despite his history of charity work, military support, etc. and business credentials.
The team’s goal behind Waldo was to increase his popularity by attacking his opponents, but failed to provide any details on how he would perform his duty if he actually won the position. Donald Trump’s focus was not to insult his opponents for popularity. He presented a genuine a desire to help America and stated the steps he would take to fulfill them if elected. His policies are aligned to fulfill his way of protecting the interests and respect for America and do not directly target people because of race, but for reasons of hijacked religious ideals and illegal actions. Obviously the presidency has increased his popularity, but Trump already carried high societal status at his age.The public in the “The Waldo Moment” loves the overly-exaggerated rudeness and arrogance of Waldo and seem to be totally unconcerned with his policies and experience. This reaction by the public represents the exact opposite of today’s media-displayed public mentality towards Trump’s campaign, in which he received many attacks by the news, celebrities, social medias, both the democratic and republican parties.These attacks against Trump began during his campaign and sought to villainize him, while categorizing him with ideology that he had never supported. Many of the accusations thrown towards Trump were non-existent before the election and were created to influence the public.
The violence displayed by Waldo’s supporters at the end of the election represent the hate displayed towards Trump at his rallies and after the announcement of his victory in which protesters created violence and disruption against both Trump and his supporters. The general public in “The Waldo Moment,” supported a non-political cartoon and were ready to move on from the corruption of the “artificial” politicians. The general public, as displayed by the media today, lack the ability to forgive and offer acknowledgement in a fair victory. They also seemed to support the politician, Hillary Clinton, who unfairly navigated her way to winning the Democratic nomination and had a history of unreliability and law-breaking. Many of Trump’s supporters believed he offered a strong plan for America and were willing to move away from his past by giving him a chance.
1 comment:
I think you make very excellent points, especially about Trump being known and having a plan unlike Waldo. One of my big complaints during the election was that Hillary and Trump would insult one another to bring each other down in order to raise themselves up (like many previous candidates do). I would want a leader who could be raised up based on their own achievements. Also your closing statement about Hillary unfairly winning her Democratic nomination is important to point out. Many of my friends were Bernie supporters and despite knowing about the scandal of the Democratic nomination, gave their vote to Hillary. For me, it was hard to trust Hillary due to the amount of scandals that were attached to her name, and although I am not thrilled about Trump winning, he is at least frankly honest and more transparent than Hillary.
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