One sure way to take Donald Trump down in 2020
If you’re passionate about politics but you’re not quite sure how best to focus your energies: here’s a way to help your own cause: only focus on things that can move the needle. If Donald Trump has ten scandals, but only three of them have a chance of getting anyone to change how they’ll vote, only focus on those three. If you’re trying to win an election by talking about the other seven, you’re essentially talking to yourself.
If you’re not sure which of Trump’s scandals is going to move the needle, it’s fine to cover your bases by talking about several of them. But if you know for sure that a certain anti-Trump talking point is only going to resonate with those who are already 100% voting against him, you’re wasting time. Do you want to just spend your time reassuring yourself about how much Trump sucks, or do you want to focus on things that can help you defeat him? At this point the only way to defeat him is to change the minds of the voters whose minds are changeable in 2020.
You’re wasting your time if you’re fighting with Trump’s most rabid supporters. They’re not changing their vote. Sparring with them all day might allow you to “defeat” them on the internet, but it won’t defeat Trump in the election.
There are groups of people you should focus on: 1) Those you can shift from a Trump vote, to not voting. 2) Those you can shift from not voting, to voting for the Democratic nominee. 3) Those you can shift from casting a third party / protest vote, to voting for the Democratic nominee.
There’s also an argument for trying to get a single Trump fan to switch to our side, because that person may then be in position to go back and convince other Trump fans to do the same. But you’ll only have a chance at flipping Trump’s most tepid supporters to voting Democrat – and even this is rare. Most elections are won by getting some people to vote for your guy instead of staying home, and getting some other people to stay home instead of voting for the other guy.
If you’re reading this and saying “but I don’t know anyone whose vote can be changed,” that’s a red flag. It means you’re only talking to rabid anti-Trump and/or rabid pro-Trump people. Broaden your approach. Talk to people outside the two bases. They vote too, if you properly influence them.
It’s all a different story if you’re simply trying to raise awareness on a crucial issue because you want to create enough public pressure to force an immediate change on that issue. The Trump regime routinely does quietly back off (or partially back off) on some things due to public pressure. But keep in mind we get to shut down all of Trump’s crap if we vote him out. So let’s focus on his specific scandals that’ll actually change votes, and use them to get him out of office – at which point we’ll win in every one of his scandals.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report