Update below in redFriday morning, Wikileaks released twenty thousand secret DNC emails for the public to view and understand the inner workings of the Democratic Party. The media has been mostly focused on the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s treatment of Bernie Sanders, another theme runs through the emails.
One Republican candidate is mentioned far more than the rest, Donald Trump. From the earliest emails, DNC officials were writing up storylines to use in the general election, many months before Trump became even the presumptive nominee, while the race was still heated.
Over five thousand, two hundred emails reference Donald Trump, roughly ¼ of all the twenty thousand emails leaked.
https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/?q=trump&mfrom=&mto=&title=¬itle=&date_from=&date_to=&nofrom=¬o=&count=50&sort=0&page=105&#searchresult The amount of articles on Trump are in no small part to how dominated the news headlines, however, what is more captivating are the strategy emails, laden with code words, but at the same time, often direct in what and who they are promoting and how to promote him.
For example, in one email, Gloria Allred suggests not going after Trump in campaign email blasts.
https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/emailid/20666Back in April and May, discussions about fundraising were already assuming a run against Trump and using that as a promotion long before Trump was the nominee. For example:
https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/emailid/15638Even in December, six months before Trump was nominated, Democrats were worried that Bernie Sanders was causing divisions and would harm their chances of taking on Trump in the general election. No other candidate was mentioned in this way as assumed they would be taking that candidate on that early or implied is part of their strategy.
https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/emailid/11748One very odd email implies they were helping Trump get revenge by running due to an insult at the 2011 White House correspondents’ dinner and they were taking advantage of his hurt feelings.
https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/emailid/11881They are even discussing holding some attacks until after the general election such as his insulting language to a Ms. America.
https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/emailid/9406And holding onto a big Trump/Manafort connection in the opposition to Ukraine.
https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/emailid/9768But it isn’t just about overall campaign strategy and projecting that they wanted Trump as the nominee. Many emails contain cryptic instructions on how to actually promote Trump through social media including talking points and language manipulation.
One email, for example, contains an odd list of code words taken from movie titles, each implying a certain action or activist campaign. It also, however, also discusses a social media strategy to promote Trump.
https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/emailid/21583 For example, this discussion on using language to promote Trump as a political outsider, independent, and authentic. It also gives instructions to respond to ‘crazy’ things as ‘just for show’
Simas: Write your personal story (personal vs group advocacy) Physically feel rationality gone- talking points take over (family politics) Don't tell people what they need or what is important to them. Listen to community. Finding salience Trump- not political, authentic (not tps), independent (money), crazy things are for show. Character is the biggest consideration.
Another section discusses language strategy and how to describe, again many times using code words but also discussing in the open how to describe Trump.
Closed off from news Normal person Little Morgan Dictionary game Grating Complacency Article
A. Intellect
1. pattern recognition
2. quick wit (master of sass)
3. problem solving ability
4. irritability/impatience with stupidity; dissatisfaction with mediocrity
5. grammarian (break in parallel just made you twitch a little, QEmfD)
6. all of the thoughts
7. multi-tasking prowess
B. Personality
8. limitless capacity for compassion
9. kind and considerate in the face of hostility (despite that quick wit); situational awareness
10. restraint and considered wisdom
11. urgent desire to do good; inability to accept neutrality as not bad
12. capable of true depths and heights of honesty and bullshit respectively (yes respectively)
C. Biased observations
13. so fun, it's annoying. honestly stop.
14. passed the DP standard of excellence, which is a more impressive feat than you know (I can be brutally honest about this later)
15. You are a wonderful, exceptional human being. You've heard it from me too many times, but it does not devalue the truth inherent in such praise. I never say these things lightly. You're the best.
And don't worry about losing. If it is right, it happens - the main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.
This type of instruction on how to approach promoting Trump from a language manipulation standpoint is prime for social media and as you can see, mirrors many of the themes that one finds in his
grassroots support.
This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the DNC’s use of Trump to their advantage outline in the Wikileaks document. With over 5,200 emails on this topic alone, a lot more revelations are sure to come. But from we see here, one can easily conclude that the Democrats planned for Trump to be the nominee early on, were holding most major stories on Trump until after the nomination, preventing the worst of getting out too early, and were finding ways to promote Trump on social media.