> If they were really super effective broadly, then Trump would have won any popular vote easily

Trump is up against all the other equally effective communicators who are both allowed to and motivated to hold that specific office.

Yes, but again it shows there isn't necessarily a dominant way to communicate. Convincing people is hard.

This does not appear to dispute the claim that mere communication is an effective way to have a lot of power.

Do you think I was claiming someone might be able to demonstrate absolute power, rather than mere relative power? Even Stalin didn't have that, but he would've been one of the closest.

None of it is mere communication: Need to organise events and travel schedules, create (or shape) organizations, find funds, etc. Communication is perhaps the mostly "visible" part, though.