1/ Some Democrats still seem to believe the Trump cultists can be swayed by facts (about tariffs or tax breaks for the rich or the vagueness of the NK "deal" or whatever). But these are people, most of whom think Obama was a foreign-born Muslim...
2/ ...Or that the Earth is only 6000 years old, or that climate change is a leftist conspiracy, and that God is a white man in the sky, and that there's a "war on Christmas," and that white men are the most oppressed group in America...
3/ They believe these things precisely because they are impervious to facts and evidence. They are driven by nostalgia for a white patriarchal Christian hegemony that cannot exist if pluralism and democracy are to survive...
4/ They are driven by a belief in anti-intellectualism as a positive good, a belief that science is a direct threat 2 their faith, that LGBTQ folk are a threat to their marriages and kids, and NFL players who take a knee are more offensive than cops who kill unarmed black folk...
5/ Their politics are a politics of the gut not the brain, of feelings not facts. If you're still stuck in the 1992 James Carville world of "it's the economy stupid," you seriously haven't paid attention to politics much lately...
6/ And to whatever extent those folks DO care about the economy, or even understand it, the will be easily swayed by the simplistic narrative Trump is selling about the Unemployment rate...
7/ Understanding the weakness of wage growth or long-term impact of tariffs or tax cuts on the rich isn't something they care 2 do. What they care about is that Trump is "tough" on the people they don't like and whom they blame for their insecurity (be it economic or cultural)...
8/ Thus, if he deports Mexicans or rips kids from families to "send a message" about coming to the U. S. "illegally," it doesn't matter whether these folks posed a threat to American jobs (they don't). All his cultists know is, "fuck yeah, MAGA!" ...
9/ And if he bashes China over trade, or even Canada, the facts don't matter. All that matters is "take THAT!" (Grabs balls, gives the middle finger to foreigners, either of color or "less manly" whites)...
10/ Trumpism is about white rage, Christian dominionism & throwback masculinity as the beginning & end of conservative politics. Any attempt to appeal 2 these people w/facts will fail...They are not reachable. Not all who voted 4 him, but that 35% who r always w/him in surveys...
11/ It is long past time 2 stop chasing these people 4 votes. Focus on a narrative about progressive VALUES, not policy specifics. That will inspire your base & potentially capture whatever reasonable people may exist on the other side (outside that 35% hardcore Trump base)...
12/ Stop pandering to so-called "middle America" or "real America" (as if people of color or folk in cities aren't real). If those folks you're chasing aren't bigots or stupid they'll respond to an articulation of progressive values...
13/ and if they WON'T respond to that, then there's no way they will be moved by data points and position papers and Politifact correctives. If a progressive value narrative can't move them, they are too far gone to be saved.
14/ Bottom line, if you can't make the case for your candidates without having to offer a single solitary statistic (not saying you shouldn't use any, but you should be ABLE to do so by telling a compelling story), then you're doing modern politics wrong...
15/ And you'll lose and the country will suffer for it. You can't defeat the cheerleaders or the Pep Club with the debate team. One appeals to emotion and loyalty, the other to abstract thought and analysis...It's asymmetrical warfare...
16/ This is among liberals' biggest failings: a belief in the power of pure reason. Liberals understand social science, while the right knows marketing. The former is aimed at intellect (and reaches very few), the latter is aimed at emotion and reaches millions...
17/ And considering Trump is among the greatest salesmen ever (albeit of snake oil), at least when it comes to his brand -- and one without scruples or restraint -- anyone who thinks a policy wonk can defeat him, or that he can b beaten by someone based on facts is a fool /END
