We definitely spend too much time playing defense and too much time trying to win "independents," whatever the hell that means these days. Trump's win in 2016 upended the political campaigning paradigm that had been firmly in place for decades: To win a presidential campaign, you had to appeal to your base while pissing off as few people as possible. Trump discovered you could win by pissing off lots of people as long as you really galvanized your base. That's part of why the polls were so off. His supporters became evangelists, which led to unlikely voters. We need to stop playing not to lose and start playing to win. I think that starts with what you're talking about. Taking strong moral stances without fear of ruffling feathers.
Thinking about your Missive from yesterday on boundaries and MAGA supporters and this one on principles, it occurs to me that many vehemently support civil rights and freedoms for themselves but not for "others" (so many definitions of who these so-called "others" are). So, what many are supporting/protecting is their privilege. Baffles me how this can be justified.
Because they think they’re the only ones entitled to rights. It’s why they’re not principled in their politics. Once you realize that you understand how futile it is to point out their hypocrisy. You just say “Why aren’t you over on my side? You should be if you really believe in what you say you do.” And leave it at that. Plant the seed and keep it moving. They’ll follow you but they may never come around to our side.
We definitely spend too much time playing defense and too much time trying to win "independents," whatever the hell that means these days. Trump's win in 2016 upended the political campaigning paradigm that had been firmly in place for decades: To win a presidential campaign, you had to appeal to your base while pissing off as few people as possible. Trump discovered you could win by pissing off lots of people as long as you really galvanized your base. That's part of why the polls were so off. His supporters became evangelists, which led to unlikely voters. We need to stop playing not to lose and start playing to win. I think that starts with what you're talking about. Taking strong moral stances without fear of ruffling feathers.
Thinking about your Missive from yesterday on boundaries and MAGA supporters and this one on principles, it occurs to me that many vehemently support civil rights and freedoms for themselves but not for "others" (so many definitions of who these so-called "others" are). So, what many are supporting/protecting is their privilege. Baffles me how this can be justified.
Because they think they’re the only ones entitled to rights. It’s why they’re not principled in their politics. Once you realize that you understand how futile it is to point out their hypocrisy. You just say “Why aren’t you over on my side? You should be if you really believe in what you say you do.” And leave it at that. Plant the seed and keep it moving. They’ll follow you but they may never come around to our side.