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Trump, echoing Nixon, ratchets up 'law and order' message

Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort on Monday said that Nixon鈥檚 鈥�68 acceptance speech will be the model for Trump鈥檚 effort later this week. But the national conversation is far different today.

Presumptive nominee Donald Trump has dialed up the volume on his 鈥渓aw and order鈥� message, warning that the nation鈥檚 social order is at risk after eight policemen were killed in the past 10 days 鈥� three in Baton Rouge, La., on Sunday.

As the Republican National Convention opens today in Cleveland, Trump seems to be following the strategy of Richard Nixon, who in his 1968 campaign said 鈥渨e will have order鈥� as big cities erupted in riots and Vietnam War protestors burned American flags.

Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort on Monday made the Nixon analogy explicit, saying at a Bloomberg breakfast that Nixon鈥檚 鈥�68 acceptance speech will be the model for Trump鈥檚 effort later this week.

But 1968 was a long time ago. The national conversation about the collision of police, race, and violence is far different today than it was then. Even Republican luminaries such as Newt Gingrich 鈥� a possible Trump Cabinet pick 鈥� has said he long underestimated the danger of being black in America. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e substantially more likely to be in a situation where police don鈥檛 respect you,鈥� Gingrich said earlier this month.

Meanwhile, political violence is tamer and less organized than it was in the Vietnam era, though Cleveland remains on edge as the RNC opens. Mass protests and a sense of a society teetering on the edge of control remain absent from US life.

And Nixon was a subtler politician than Trump has so far shown himself to be. It was a different era, but it鈥檚 hard to imagine Nixon talking about race and ethnicity with the bluntness of Trump. At least, not in public 鈥� the White House tapes reveal another, earthier mode of Nixon conversation.

Thus Trump鈥檚 鈥渓aw and order鈥� appeal may be another example of how his entire campaign has been organized around nostalgia, a desire for a long-past, whiter era of good factory jobs and low immigration that is gone with the wind. It may appeal to his followers but win him little more in the wider world of American society.

鈥�... [L]aw and order doesn鈥檛 work when nothing is coded & electorate isn鈥檛 all white,鈥� Shana Gadarian, an associate professor in political science at Syracuse University on Monday.

One thing seems clear: Trump and Republicans more generally are not about to soften their words on the interplay of race, police, and guns, despite the pleas of President Obama.

On Sunday Mr. Obama noted that the US is about to enter a period when rhetoric becomes even more heated than usual as both parties rally the faithful at their respective conventions.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 need careless accusations thrown around to score political points or to advance an agenda. We need to temper our words a open our hearts 鈥� all of us,鈥� Obama said in a statement after the Baton Rouge killings.

In response, Trump on Monday seemed to imply that Obama鈥檚 heart was with those attacking police officers, not the embattled officers themselves. You could tell this, said the GOP鈥檚 likely leader during a 鈥淔ox & Friends鈥� interview, just by looking at him.

鈥淚 mean, you know, I watched the president and sometimes the words are OK,鈥� . 鈥淏ut you just look at the body language. There鈥檚 something going on. Look, there鈥檚 something going on and the words are not often OK, by the way.鈥�

Of course, many mainstream Republicans believe Obama does not provide enough support, rhetorical or otherwise, for the nation鈥檚 police forces. Monday鈥檚 convention line-up is full of them, from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency briefly floated as a candidate for Trump VP.

Some on the right say the Black Lives Matter movement has so demonized police that the Dallas and Baton Rouge shooters thought they were doing the right thing by targeting cops.

There may be more violence to come, they warn. In the current atmosphere of unease, Trump鈥檚 law and order message is 鈥渓ikely to resonate,鈥� of National Review.

鈥淚f cops are being ambushed and shot every few days, the country is coming apart at the seams,鈥� he writes.

The bottom line: In days and weeks to come you鈥檙e likely to see updated versions of Nixon鈥檚 approach from 鈥�68.

In his acceptance speech before the RNC back then, Nixon hit law and order hard, criticizing courts that were soft on crime and saying the incumbent administration was soft on the issue.

鈥淭he first civil right of every American is to be free from domestic violence. And that right must be guaranteed in this country,鈥� , where the GOP gathered that year. 鈥淎nd that right must be guaranteed in this country.鈥�

In Nixon said flatly 鈥渨e shall have order in the United States.鈥� The ad鈥檚 tagline: 鈥淭his time, vote like your whole world depended on it.鈥�