On the stump?

Reader question:

Please explain this sentence, especially “on the stump” (what stump?): Trump is seventy-seven and often rambling and shouty on the stump.

My comments:

Donald Trump, that is, the President of the United States.

Trump is seventy-seven years old. He shows his age whenever he gives a long, rambling speech on the stump.

While on the stump, he talks like an old man who walks aimlessly about, not know where he’s heading.

And he loses his temper and composure by getting shouty – talking loudly and shouting at, say, reporters who ask a difficult question.

And he does all of this while on the stump.

The question is, what stump?

The stump of a tree.

You know, the stump of a large tree, the bottom part of it – after the rest of the trunk has been cut and cleared away.

I’m serious. This is exactly what the “stump” in “on the stump” originally was. Political candidates literally gave speeches on the stumps of large trees in the old days.

In the old days, like, 18th century America.

Back then, when political candidates travelled to the countryside to rally support, the stump of a large tree was set up for them to stand on. The stump, which was considerably higher than ground level, served as a makeshift stage or podium or platform.

Over time, the stump has become synonymous with the platform on which politically candidates rally support for their agenda.

On the stump, therefore, means candidates are doing campaign rallies soliciting support.

Today, politicians no longer stand on a shabby stump of a tree, but the imagery persists. Idiomatically, in America, political campaigning is still called stumping.

And, so, to paraphrase our example: Trump is seventy-seven and often rambling and shouty while giving a speech at rallies.

All right, let’s read a few more examples of “on the stump”:

1. Among the faithful making the pilgrimage to Inaugural ’81 will be a phalanx of Hollywood celebrities, stars who knew Ronald Reagan when – when he was another performer like themselves.

Celebrities love politicians, and vice versa. Presidents, after all, are the ultimate stars.

Presidential candidates traditionally have had film and television stars appear for and with them on the stump, going back to Franklin Roosevelt. Since FDR, performers have always been welcome in the White House. They brighten the image.

John F. Kennedy, thanks in part to brother-in-law Peter Lawford, was particularly close to the show biz community.

Reagan, of course, has even stronger ties to Hollywood. For a quarter century he lived, worked and played in show business. Indeed, he married two of his leading ladies.

His friendships with Frank Sinatra, Charlton Heston, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Bob Hope go back to his acting days – and all of them will help celebrate his inauguration.

Johnny Carson will emcee Monday night’s inaugural gala which will be televised as a two-hour special. It will include more performers than any Academy Award show or musical extravaganza.

Appearing will be Debby Boone, Heston, Hope, Rich Little, Dean Martin, Ethel Merman, Donny and Marie Osmond, Charlie Pride, Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, Mel Tillis and Ben Vereen. Gen. Omar Bradley also will appear.

The following night the eight inaugural balls will be tied together on closed circuit TV by anchorman Ed McMahan.

Each ball features a complete show and a visit from the Reagans. Appearing on stage at the balls will be Elizabeth Taylor, Mike Connors, Michael Landon, Robert Stack, Hugh O'Brian, Robert Conrad, Wayne Newton, Chad Everett and Anthony Newley.

Providing music for the festivities will be Tony Bennett, Lou Rawls, Count Basie, Doc Severensen, Glen Campbell, Tanya Tucker, Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton, Ray Charles, Harry James, Frankie Laine, The Commodores, Patti Page, Pat Boone and Johnny Scat Davis.

- Inaugural ’81: Reagan brings out the stars, UPI.com, February 1, 1981.

2. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell says that if President Donald Trump wins the election, he may consider moving to New Zealand.

“I want to look into moving to New Zealand,” Rendell told WHYY News and StateImpact Pennsylvania. “They have a nice woman president, she seems to be very able. New Zealand, I saw ‘Lord of the Rings.’ New Zealand’s a beautiful country.”

On the stump for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Rendell said he wants to set the record straight when it comes to the issue of fracking, something that continues to come up on the campaign trail.

“Fracking was good for Pennsylvania,” said Rendell, who ushered in the state’s shale gas boom with great enthusiasm when he was governor. “I knew it would do wonderful things for the economy.”

Biden agrees, Rendell said, and has always been a big supporter of fossil-fuel development, despite President Trump’s claims that his opponent wants to ban fracking.

“[Trump] lies all day, every day,” said Rendell.

Trump has made the outsized claim that 900,000 fracking jobs in Pennsylvania will be killed if Biden is elected. The state puts the figure at about 26,000 jobs in the oil and gas sector. That’s less than 1% of all jobs in the state. And the gas industry estimates there are 300,000 fracking-related jobs.

Biden has said he wants to stop all new oil and gas leases on federal land as part of his effort to tackle climate change. All but just a tiny fraction of gas drilling in Pennsylvania occurs on private or state-owned land. And even if he wanted to, a president can’t actually ban drilling on private land – that requires an act of Congress.

But as Trump continues to pound Biden on fracking, Biden is in the odd position of defending himself on an action he would have no authority to take should he become president.

It’s a tactic Trump hopes will rally his base, using fracking as a symbol of American economic success in an effort to drive a wedge with voters.

…

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, fracking is legal. But the country’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, banned all new oil and gas wells last year.

- Rendell, on the stump for Biden, says he’ll consider moving to New Zealand if Trump wins, WHYY.org, October 29, 2020.

3. With other shows on holiday, the Late Show host Stephen Colbert celebrates new favorable polls for Kamala Harris and looks into the shortcomings of JD Vance.

“I’m a little worried,” said Stephen Colbert on Wednesday evening, “because since Sunday afternoon, I haven’t been that worried. And that is deeply troubling. I personally blame our next president, Kamala Harris.”

“Everybody has been buzzing about her ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket,” the Late Show host continued, “and now we have some hard data to back up all that enthusiasm.”

Colbert cautiously prefaced that polls are an inaccurate science. “Polls don’t vote, people do. This far out, it’s just a snapshot of the present opinion, and you cannot place any of your trust in them, OK?” But it didn’t stop him from celebrating the fact that a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found that Harris led Trump by two points. “It’s over!” he joked with a celebratory dance.

It’s not over at all, but still, Colbert was jazzed, especially given Harris’s first rally as the Democratic presidential candidate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “It was refreshing to see a presidential rally without a single wrestler from the 1980s,” he said, referring to Hulk Hogan’s appearance at the Republican national convention.

Harris led supporters in a new chant: “Not Going Back!” “That is a powerful message,” said Colbert, “and it applies to so much. Women’s rights? Not going back. Gay rights? Not going back. That corndog stand that gave us E coli? Might go back – it’s just so crispy.”

By Wednesday morning, the Harris campaign raised $126m. “Do you have any idea what this means?” Colbert exclaimed. “That means that Kamala Harris had a bigger opening weekend than Twisters. Sorry, Glen Powell.”

Harris’s campaign has also gotten a boost from “America’s most precious resource: celebrities”, as Hollywood is reportedly “energized” by Harris’s candidacy. “Yes, I can tell you she is the biggest thing to hit Hollywood since Ozempic, and lying that you’re not on Ozempic,” Colbert joked.

Meanwhile, Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, who according to polls is the least liked vice-presidential nominee in decades, hosted a rally in his home town of Middletown, Ohio, in which he sounded “like a groom who invited only co-workers to his bachelor party”.

The senator is from Ohio, “which Trump’s already got”, Colbert noted. “He doesn’t soften Trump’s far-right stuff at all. He’s kinda Handmaid’s Tale curious, which will not appeal to suburban women, and he’s terrible on the stump. So a lot of people are asking, why the hell did Trump pick him in the first place?”

According to Trump, it’s that “he likes me. Maybe more than anybody, he likes me.”

“Really? Vance likes Trump more than anybody else? Is that true?” Colbert scoffed, before a video of Melania simply saying “yes”.

- Stephen Colbert on JD Vance: ‘Why the hell did Trump pick him? TheGuardian.com, July 25, 2024.

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者：张欣）