And so, we have the election nobody wanted. Biden vs. Trump, again. Ever the master of messaging and reading the public, we must give him that,* Trump has been able to cast the "lawfare" strategy waged against him as another instance of his victimization, which justifies his return to the White House. Never shy of going all the way over the top and back down again, he even likens himself to Navalny.
My gut says that the resonance of Trump's victimization inheres in the way his electorate feels like he represents them precisely because they have been disrespected and maligned. I'm sure this point has been made a million times in op-eds I've ignored, so forgive me for repeating it. One way to defang it, therefore, is to go out of our way to respect his voters, however crazy their Trump regalia look, however wacky the things they say may be. The video outtakes I continue to see from late-night TV shows about how stupid Trump voters are may keep ratings up and help networks and local affiliates sell ads, but they aren't helping our cause. Instead of focusing on how stupid the other side is we have to focus on just respecting them where they are and showing them we're not ourselves godless pedophile demons.
*Though reading Bob Woodward's Fear, about Trump in the White House, makes clear to me how much the insight is Steve Bannon's rather than Trump's.
No comments:
Post a Comment