It's not image management in the way that you would think. This is the fundamental difference between Johnson and Trump. (for which we should be thankful).
Johnson wants everybody to think he is great. Consequently he is always saying and doing things which he believes or hopes will make people think he is great. The type of image management form politicians that we are used to.
Trump has no interest in what other people think. He does and says what confirms to himself that he is great and marvellous. The image that Trump is trying to maintain is in his own mind. Everything Trump does or says is driven by what he wishes to show to himself as confirmation of his self-image.
Trump is not maintaining an image that is supposed to convince us, it is purely self-affirmation. Things that support his self-image get through, things that do not simply do not exist.
If you want to disrupt Trump you do not attack what others think of him, you attack his self image.
You'd think that the Democrats would have people that would understand this, even if they did not themselves.
But judging by their campaign, they do not.
Trump is the type of person that you could cause to explode in a debate. Explode in a way that he'd say stuff and behave in a way that would damage him. Biden, and presumably the team behind him, appear unable to think out of the box and continue to play the game the way that one would play it against an opponent who was decent and reasonable. Trump is neither.
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