At the Democratic National Convention, someone, maybe General John Allen, said something to the effect that Hillary Clinton was "Ready to Serve, and Ready to Lead."  

It's a good expression.  It evokes the idea of military service, of being a public servant, of doing the people's will.  At the same time, it makes clear that she's the one in the vanguard, and that the rest of us should follow her example.

Most of all, it fits on a bumper sticker.  The campaign should use it.

Donald Trump ran his primary campaign in large part by quickly defining his opponents with names and descriptions:  "Little Marco Rubio."  "Low-Energy Jeb Bush."  "Lyin' Ted Cruz."  He insulted their wives and their manhood, their integrity and in the case of Carly Fiorina, her looks.  It seemed to work.  Though he never got much more than 40% of the Republican vote, it was enough to dismiss the field as "losers" and win. 

Now Donald is facing a general election opponent he quickly called "Crooked Hillary."  And he can't seem to help refer to her aggressive surrogate, Senator Elizabeth Warren, as "Pocahontas," based on her assertion that she has native American ancestry.  After former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the richest men in the world, spoke out against him at the Democratic National Convention, he called him "little," though it's not clear that it will stick on a self-made man who can buy and sell him.

Elizabeth Warren seems to have gotten under Donald's skin with her sharp attacks against him, attacks that come close to questioning his manhood.  Bill Maher refers to him as that "whiny little bitch" and has called him a pussy.  Even Hillary referred to his thin-skinned tweets.

Personally, I think the public should think of him as a pussy.  But I'm tempted to use a schoolyard taunt, possibly offensive to the gay community but without real sexual connotation:  "little faggot."  A guy who acts like a bully but doesn't have the strength or courage to back up his threats.  A weak, sniveling, gutless .

Or, thinking of my father, I think of Donald as a "gutless wonder."  A guy who talks tough, may even send others to be tough for him, but never has the courage to put himself at risk. 

Maybe it doesn't matter what name we use for The Donald.  Or maybe we should use all of them.  But we've got to get the public to realize that his guy is a fraud, an entertainer, a master showman, but bereft of any knowledge, wisdom, moral character.  He's a pussy.  A fraud.  A little faggot willing to put your families' lives at risk for his own fragile pride.

We'll be back with more ideas on this subject.

Criticism of Bill Clinton when President was pervasive, bipartisan, and contradictory.  

On the left, he was considered a creature of the business community, a compromiser, a man with no political or moral backbone.  On the right, he was considered both lacking in principle and a committed leftist.  He was considered a master political strategist, and reviled for "triangulating" issues.

Barack Obama also seems to have been attacked by both left and right.  Against objective data, both also agree that the current state of our country is disastrous.  The left doesn't like his drone strikes, the surveillance that has likely increased during his tenure, the continued use of Guantanamo has a prison for suspected terrorists.  The right says that the economy is a disaster and that we're more at risk than ever.

And now we come to Hillary.  A woman seen by the right as being without principle, but also devoted to left wing values.  A woman seen by the right as being without principle, but a creature of the military and business communities.  Forgotten is her previous reputation as an anti-military during the early years of her husband's presidency.  Forgotten is her advocacy of universal health care.  

Perhaps both left and right are projecting their own values on to candidates whose "brands" are too nuanced to categorize but easy too caricature.