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No matter which candidate you favor, look at the benefits that Trump is already promising, then look at the benefits Clinton may be able to promise to win.
Benefits Trump Promises
Jobs: Trump says we should protect American jobs by not importing so much from Mexico and China. Clinton doesn't promise this.
Immigration: "I'll build a wall," says Trump--a barrier to keep out drugs and criminals. Clinton doesn't promise a wall.
Safety: Trump opposes letting Muslims immigrate, Clinton says this wouldn't be fair, and we can guess whether most Americans care more about fairness to Muslims or safety for Americans.
Taxes: Trump proposes tax reductions that by some estimates would save 10% for the very rich but 2% for the bottom 80%. Clinton doesn't. In the voting booth, will most taxpayers favor not getting the 2% so the rich don't save 10%, or will most Americans prefer to get the 2% even if the rich get more?
E-mailing Classified Info.: Trump says Clinton was guilty and the public will be safer without her. Clinton says well yes, she was guilty and she's sorry. Will voters think America's secret information will be safer with Clinton or with Trump?
Russia: Trump says Putin is brilliant and wouldn't it be nice if we could get along better with Russia. Clinton doesn't say Putin is brilliant or that it would be nice if we could get along better with Russia.
Helping The Poor: Clinton says America should do more for the poor--a higher minimum wage, more money for minority education, more for equal rights in employment, and more for healthcare of the poor. Trump is opposed to as much increase in the minimum wage as Clinton and her colleagues want and is silent about other help to the poor. Do most of the poor already favor Clinton, and will most middle class and wealthy Americans care more about their own taxes than bout helping the poor?
Street Crime: Trump favors a "stop and frisk" right for police but Clinton does not. Will most Americans favor--or not favor--police having the right to stop and frisk people who look suspicious?
Regardless of which Presidential candidate you favor (I'm personally indecisive about Clinton but not in favor of Trump) judge whether Trump may be getting better PR advice than Clinton regarding the realities of Washington PR: voters vote not so much for candidates as for themselves; each voter tends to decide not so much on "what's more fair" as on "what's best for me?"
Clinton's PR Opportunities
In elections as in Washington PR fights over what our government should do, victory may go to the side that argues more persuasively not "what's fair" but the benefit to major blocks of voters. So look at Clinton's opportunity to triumph over Trump with hugely important voting blocks.
Minorities: Blacks, the poor and LGBT people deserve equal rights, are entitled to this under the law, but are repeatedly screwed (or more politely "underserved by government"). Clinton can bring in more support from these people--not just their goodwill but votes--by doing what savvy marketing teams do: get effusive endorsements from admirable stars of sports, entertainment and business who've been poor, minorities and gay.
Workers: Trump has promised to create more jobs by having tariffs that reduce imports. But this would lead foreign countries to have tariffs on American-made gods and economists say this could cause millions of American workers to become unemployed. Clinton can cite professors from Harvard and Wharton who report which American industries could lose millions of jobs if Trump gets elected.
Health: The Clinton Foundation is a charity that helps save millions of lives in Haiti and around the world in some cases helping to control disease that could kill millions of Americans. Trump has no such foundation and doesn't even release tax returns showing whether he has been giving even $100 a year to protect world health and health in America. Most people don't understand medical complexities but look what it could do for Clinton to trot out supporters such as the world's leading heart doctors of Cleveland Clinic and the world's top cancer doctors from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Consumer Prices: If Trump puts a tariff on imports in an effort to help American jobs, American consumers will have to pay more for goods from abroad and more for made-in-America goods, now coming to us from abroad, but made with higher labor costs resulting in higher consumer prices.
Stay tuned. Clinton's PR opportunity is clear: win by increasing public awareness of the truth. By showing major groups of voters--scores of millions--how they can benefit if Clinton wins, the PR result can be not just good public relations, but winning public response.
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Ron Levy is a veteran New York communications pro.
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