What’s old is new again
We now find ourselves in the highly unfortunate position of having to resist Donald Trump. The only silver lining: we’ve been here before and we’ve learned some things. Now is a good time to brush up on what does and what does not work when it comes to resistance efforts.
First, let’s talk about what we know works. For all the uncharted territory we’re now in, a few things don’t change. For one thing, a President’s ability to carry out his agenda is based almost entirely on his approval rating. The goal here is to drive Trump’s approval rating as low as possible, as quickly as possible. It’ll cripple him politically. Driving his approval rating down will be the difference between winning none of the battles we fight against him, and winning half of the battles we fight against him.
As for how to drive Trump’s approval rating down, remember, it’s not about his base. It never has been and it never will be. It’s about the dummies in the middle who don’t like Trump, don’t think much of him, but voted for him anyway because they’re stupid. These are the people who think that Trump will magically bring down prices and make America stronger. Our job is to make sure that these dummies in the middle quickly come to regret having voted for Trump. We do that not by making doomsday predictions, but by calling out Trump for things as he screws them up. Specifically Trump’s dementia, his refusal to distance himself from Nazis and such, and his laughably unqualified nominees and hires are what will drive his approval rating down.
Now let’s talk about what doesn’t work. For instance you’re wasting your time by demanding a recount. If the Kamala Harris campaign and/or the Democratic Party thought there were any chance of uncovering anything by forcing a recount, they’d be doing it. But as we learned the hard way in 2016, recounts don’t uncover any funny business that may or may not have gone on. So let’s move on from that. It’s a pipe dream and a waste of time.
Moreover, all these “Biden has immunity, he should do whatever he wants posts” on social media are laughably naive. In reality, while Biden does have immunity from being prosecuted for any official acts he might take in his final months in office, that doesn’t mean any of it would stick. If Biden were to try any of the magic wand ideas being floated on social media, the Supreme Court would simply reverse it immediately. There are no magic wands, and the people floating magic wand ideas are either naive or are counting on you to be naive. Don’t fall for it.
In fact the single most important thing you can do right now is to avoid bashing the Democrats for not waving whatever magic wand idea you’re being sold on. There is also no point in the Democrats going out there and setting themselves on fire in a foot stomping panic. That’s not how you win the public over. In fact it does the opposite. Anyone on social media (or cable news) who tries to get you to bash the Democrats over the next four years is a con artist who’s simply trying to come across as smarter and fiercer than the Democratic Party. It’s a bunch of crap. Don’t fall for it.
As for the other things we tried last time around, there are still some open questions. We did quite a number of large protest rallies last time. Did they work? That was never clear. Should we do them again? That’s up to you. But remember, the real way to make a difference is to drive Trump’s approval rating down. Everything you say and do in the coming days and months should be run through a filter of whether it’ll bring down Trump’s approval ratings. That’s the whole ballgame. It always is.
