I like this framing of referring to the GOP as the MAGA agenda. When we say Republican or GOP it provides a tether to a party that was once normal. Referring to Trump invites a comparison of the politician to Trump himself and they may appear more normal, like Youngkin. But there is no escaping the MAGA agenda and it ties every Republican to the most extreme, absurd policies and the real agenda of maintaining power at all costs. Every Dem should refer to their opponent as the MAGA candidate.
So agree. We saw this play out in our May special election in MI, when an R +16 state house seat flipped to a Dem, and a 14 year R county commissioner was recalled in northern MI...where Dems now hold the majority for the first time ever. In both cases, the Republican extremist message was the driving narrative. On local levels, we are seeing this as an effective strategy.
For hyper-local especially, it is a combination of having communities ripped apart by national extremist agendas that trickle down into local level policies, combined with the fact that those conversations don’t allow local gov to just do it’s job and focus on everyday problems and opportunities (like how to spend ARP funding...which can then be tied back to how the D’s are helping at the national level).
The way progress happens: start at 1, aim for 3, fall back to 2. Start at 2 , aim for 4, fall back to 3, etc. We’re at 2, thinking we failed. It’s not failure, but we can’t give up. We need to aim beyond 3, for 4, in this election.
If I remember correctly, ads that feature “everyday people” are particularly effective. And because satire is dead, there is an opportunity, though not without its dangers and yuckiness, to personify the GOP agenda using real people to say their words out of their mouths. So, instead of a teacher earnestly attesting to why it’s good to support education, you have a teacher who says, “I’m all for banning books”. A church lady saying she supports separating “illegal” immigrant kids from their families. Take Scott’s platform and put it in the mouths of “our neighbors”. It’s gross and ugly but so is the agenda. Maybe we should see, up close and personal, what it looks like in the wild. And at the end, flash pics and names of GOP candidates and say, “These Republicans approved this message.”
This really resonates. And time is of the essence. Not only because of the dwindling days between now and 11/8, but because the draft opinion has created unprecedented receptivity among voters. I've been canvassing for our ongoing primary (Oregon) and the difference in conversations between before and after the leak is...indescribable. People want to talk. They are hungry for what we have to say. They want to do something. If you can, now is the time to organize and talk to voters, while the real-life impacts of Republican extremism are hitting home.
I hope that the Roe decision plus the Jan 6th public hearings act as catalysts for Democratic turnout. That’s it, catalysts; not saviors (as many of us viewed the Mueller report).
I wonder if the reason for the leak (overly suspicious, I know) is hoping that the added 6 or 8 weeks of living with Roe overturned will provide time for some of the steam to escape from the Dems. A little more time for a fait accompli mentality to take hold.
I really like taking the craziness that is the MAGA agenda and tying it all together, as Dan proposed and some in this thread mentioned. And prominently in that agenda will be the insurrection and Roe. But just as part of the agenda. We sort of got into an outraged group-think about Mueller and just wanted to shout and splutter Mueller!! for a few months. Found out that outrage by itself isn’t contagious. We can’t do that with Roe. Let’s use it as fuel for the energy we need to take every one of the Biden voters (as a goal, anyway) to the polls in November.
And by the way, far-left progressives can indeed dissipate some of that energy with extreme positions. I too am a lefty. But I don’t push agenda items that I sense will turn off more voters than they could ever attract. I still remember my feelings of horror when Julian Castro, in the first Dem debate, started talking about his agenda on the border. I thought he must think he’s running for president of some Scandinavian country. And he tried to get his fellow candidates to raise their hands if they agreed. So glad the MAGA crowd was too stupid to replay all that.
So c’mon folks, let’s manage six months of energy out of this.
Watching the polls stating that people think Republicans would do a better job make me crazy. I do believe they are based on the generic candidate running against the incumbent party. I feel that when voters focus on individual candidates and their stance on issues, Dems will perform much better than anticipated....But...the candidates, activists, media, etc...have to push these far right candidates to articulate and defend their values AND plans for everyone to see. On inflation...what are they going to do? On education...what are they going to do? How are they going to help the individuals and families in their district? Hard questions need to be asked and answered.
Thanks for this, Dan. In addition to being rather encouraged (in my outraged state at present) by just how many are also outraged by this week's SCOTUS leak, I've also seen the typical 'well both parties are extreme so what are we to do' nonsense. Personally, I would welcome some of the more 'extreme' left policies, but what can I say... I'm a bleeding heart, pinko commie liberal. That said, I don't think any of the policies of the left flank of the Democratic party are that 'pinko commie liberal', given that we're really just talking about things like making healthcare and education accessible and available to all, and taxing corporations to pay for it. I know the misinformation is strong on the right, but... I really don't understand how the GOP policy a la Rick Scott is at all comparable things that benefit literally everyone (except the GOP's ability to hold on to power).
There has to be some value in using the Jan. 6 Insurrection by pointing out what Trump and his fellow GOP enablers were willing to do to stay in power. The message "Trump attempted a coup to remain in power after losing an election. Imagine what he'll try when his term is up if he's elected again." should be shouted from rooftops time and time again. As for the GOPs running for Congress, it must be asked that if they were willing to support a coup attempt for Trump in 2021, what will they be willing to do in the future? Send soldiers into the streets? It should scare every last American - maybe it's time to use GOP fear-mongering tactics.
No polls should be done until the full effect of the demise of Roe is felt, maybe in 2-3-4 weeks. That said one thing I would like to see Democrats do immediately is use the word lie all day every day. Republicans are not hypocrites, most voters don’t even know what that means, they are liars. They are not promulgating false assertions, they are lying. They are not alleged liars, they are liars. And so on. Voters don’t care about details. Print and distribute for free 30 million bumper stickers that just say REPUBLICANS LIE. Once that’s done pivot to 30 million bumper stickers and 30 million lawn signs REPUBLICANS WANT TO RAISE YOUR TAXES. Voters need to hear the exact same simple message in the exact same way 1000 times at least before they vote.
These are sage words and sound analysis. But does anyone in the administration listen? Or are they doomed like most us of feel to do politics all wrong despite the best moral and economic arguments?
I like this framing of referring to the GOP as the MAGA agenda. When we say Republican or GOP it provides a tether to a party that was once normal. Referring to Trump invites a comparison of the politician to Trump himself and they may appear more normal, like Youngkin. But there is no escaping the MAGA agenda and it ties every Republican to the most extreme, absurd policies and the real agenda of maintaining power at all costs. Every Dem should refer to their opponent as the MAGA candidate.
So agree. We saw this play out in our May special election in MI, when an R +16 state house seat flipped to a Dem, and a 14 year R county commissioner was recalled in northern MI...where Dems now hold the majority for the first time ever. In both cases, the Republican extremist message was the driving narrative. On local levels, we are seeing this as an effective strategy.
For hyper-local especially, it is a combination of having communities ripped apart by national extremist agendas that trickle down into local level policies, combined with the fact that those conversations don’t allow local gov to just do it’s job and focus on everyday problems and opportunities (like how to spend ARP funding...which can then be tied back to how the D’s are helping at the national level).
The way progress happens: start at 1, aim for 3, fall back to 2. Start at 2 , aim for 4, fall back to 3, etc. We’re at 2, thinking we failed. It’s not failure, but we can’t give up. We need to aim beyond 3, for 4, in this election.
If I remember correctly, ads that feature “everyday people” are particularly effective. And because satire is dead, there is an opportunity, though not without its dangers and yuckiness, to personify the GOP agenda using real people to say their words out of their mouths. So, instead of a teacher earnestly attesting to why it’s good to support education, you have a teacher who says, “I’m all for banning books”. A church lady saying she supports separating “illegal” immigrant kids from their families. Take Scott’s platform and put it in the mouths of “our neighbors”. It’s gross and ugly but so is the agenda. Maybe we should see, up close and personal, what it looks like in the wild. And at the end, flash pics and names of GOP candidates and say, “These Republicans approved this message.”
This really resonates. And time is of the essence. Not only because of the dwindling days between now and 11/8, but because the draft opinion has created unprecedented receptivity among voters. I've been canvassing for our ongoing primary (Oregon) and the difference in conversations between before and after the leak is...indescribable. People want to talk. They are hungry for what we have to say. They want to do something. If you can, now is the time to organize and talk to voters, while the real-life impacts of Republican extremism are hitting home.
I hope that the Roe decision plus the Jan 6th public hearings act as catalysts for Democratic turnout. That’s it, catalysts; not saviors (as many of us viewed the Mueller report).
I wonder if the reason for the leak (overly suspicious, I know) is hoping that the added 6 or 8 weeks of living with Roe overturned will provide time for some of the steam to escape from the Dems. A little more time for a fait accompli mentality to take hold.
I really like taking the craziness that is the MAGA agenda and tying it all together, as Dan proposed and some in this thread mentioned. And prominently in that agenda will be the insurrection and Roe. But just as part of the agenda. We sort of got into an outraged group-think about Mueller and just wanted to shout and splutter Mueller!! for a few months. Found out that outrage by itself isn’t contagious. We can’t do that with Roe. Let’s use it as fuel for the energy we need to take every one of the Biden voters (as a goal, anyway) to the polls in November.
And by the way, far-left progressives can indeed dissipate some of that energy with extreme positions. I too am a lefty. But I don’t push agenda items that I sense will turn off more voters than they could ever attract. I still remember my feelings of horror when Julian Castro, in the first Dem debate, started talking about his agenda on the border. I thought he must think he’s running for president of some Scandinavian country. And he tried to get his fellow candidates to raise their hands if they agreed. So glad the MAGA crowd was too stupid to replay all that.
So c’mon folks, let’s manage six months of energy out of this.
Watching the polls stating that people think Republicans would do a better job make me crazy. I do believe they are based on the generic candidate running against the incumbent party. I feel that when voters focus on individual candidates and their stance on issues, Dems will perform much better than anticipated....But...the candidates, activists, media, etc...have to push these far right candidates to articulate and defend their values AND plans for everyone to see. On inflation...what are they going to do? On education...what are they going to do? How are they going to help the individuals and families in their district? Hard questions need to be asked and answered.
Thanks for this, Dan. In addition to being rather encouraged (in my outraged state at present) by just how many are also outraged by this week's SCOTUS leak, I've also seen the typical 'well both parties are extreme so what are we to do' nonsense. Personally, I would welcome some of the more 'extreme' left policies, but what can I say... I'm a bleeding heart, pinko commie liberal. That said, I don't think any of the policies of the left flank of the Democratic party are that 'pinko commie liberal', given that we're really just talking about things like making healthcare and education accessible and available to all, and taxing corporations to pay for it. I know the misinformation is strong on the right, but... I really don't understand how the GOP policy a la Rick Scott is at all comparable things that benefit literally everyone (except the GOP's ability to hold on to power).
There has to be some value in using the Jan. 6 Insurrection by pointing out what Trump and his fellow GOP enablers were willing to do to stay in power. The message "Trump attempted a coup to remain in power after losing an election. Imagine what he'll try when his term is up if he's elected again." should be shouted from rooftops time and time again. As for the GOPs running for Congress, it must be asked that if they were willing to support a coup attempt for Trump in 2021, what will they be willing to do in the future? Send soldiers into the streets? It should scare every last American - maybe it's time to use GOP fear-mongering tactics.
No polls should be done until the full effect of the demise of Roe is felt, maybe in 2-3-4 weeks. That said one thing I would like to see Democrats do immediately is use the word lie all day every day. Republicans are not hypocrites, most voters don’t even know what that means, they are liars. They are not promulgating false assertions, they are lying. They are not alleged liars, they are liars. And so on. Voters don’t care about details. Print and distribute for free 30 million bumper stickers that just say REPUBLICANS LIE. Once that’s done pivot to 30 million bumper stickers and 30 million lawn signs REPUBLICANS WANT TO RAISE YOUR TAXES. Voters need to hear the exact same simple message in the exact same way 1000 times at least before they vote.
These are sage words and sound analysis. But does anyone in the administration listen? Or are they doomed like most us of feel to do politics all wrong despite the best moral and economic arguments?