How did the impulsive candidate begin to notice not only other people but also develop a highly publicized new focus on families? Where does his sudden interest in women in the workplace come from anyway?

A daughter, a pollster, and a faux-politician walk into a room…Oh, I am sorry let’s get back to this issue.

How did Donald Trump decide to pick up the issue of women in the workplace where we left it eight years ago? I say the answer is tricky, but let’s take a peek at his lexicon of “issues”. Keep in mind this is Trump Talk — nothing here meant to stick for more than a news cycle or two and lives far, far from where the truth may live but of course — he said tomato…

What is this Maternity leave?

Maternity Leave:

This one is for you Ladies. You know what I mean, don’t you little lady? Simple enough — you make the baby and then you care for the baby. Oh wait, Trump is so evolved he now includes adoption, yes really — you adopt the baby, then you can care for the baby. While papa, virile, manly, valuable papa, goes back to the workplace. You know the work place, don’t you? This is the one that has a track for men and an obstacle course for women. The one that super values male contribution and begrudgingly tolerates the other voters — oh wait, I am sorry, female workers. And plays around with some imaginary pool of money to cover the costs of the whole of the train wreck. Pandering is not progress.

And Childcare?

Gwynn Guilford sums it up well in her September 18 piece in Quartz, “the centerpiece of his plan calls for new mothers to care for children, not Dad”.

To me, this new childcare creates a U-turn back to a place we’ve finally moved past.

Childcare:

So this one is about credits of some sort — once a year, lump-sum tax credits that favor a small segment and do little to support the full spectrum of workers. In other words, these new “bold” ideas around childcare are old, dated news, and do very little support those lower and middle income workers who need the support as well. So….

Where are we? We are in a news cycle where Trump was able to use the words “maternity leave” and “childcare” and gets attention for it. And now, back to your regularly scheduled program….