Trump’s speech strategy: The good, the bad, and the good again

Last night’s speech was the ultimate policy-version of a compliment sandwich.

President Donald Trump gave the first State of the Union-style address of his second presidential term on Tuesday night, and the objective was clear: Remind the people why they voted for him on Nov. 5. Overall, he succeeded.

Setting aside my usual grievances with these acts of political theater — including the breathless partisanship, endless moments of either applause or sulking derision, and the whopping two-hour run time — Trump’s speech gave an insight into the strategy of the president and his team: Leverage every issue that won him the election in order to run cover for the one issue that the vast majority of people care about the most: the economy.

Have you ever heard of a “compliment sandwich,” the feedback technique that supposedly lessens the blow of negative criticism by book-ending the criticism with positive feedback at the beginning and end, where the meat is the negative, and the bread is the positive? Even though I’ve often thought that this is the wrong way round, since I’d trade in two slices of bread for one serving of meat without a second’s thought…

Well, last night’s speech was the ultimate policy-version of a compliment sandwich.

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