Resist The Resistance Tactics
If we have to do Trump 2.0 then let's learn from the first time and be better during this second round.
It has been about three weeks since Trump squeaked by a win. By the time the votes in California are counted, his total vote count will be below 50% of the country. Yes, he won the popular vote and the Electoral College, but you take a look at his margins in some of the swing states and he won by less that 2 percentage points. Had 200K votes in three states gone a different way so would have the election. Ultimately, he will have far less votes than Biden received in 2020.
The bottom line is that he doesn’t have a mandate other than make life less expensive for the American people. Of course, his proposed policies will likely make everything more expensive, but I digress.
Perhaps looking at these numbers is only a small comfort, but small does not mean insignificant. If we are going to be in this position, these are numbers that we can work with as we go forward.
Over the last two weeks we started to see who Donald J. Trump would like to serve in his cabinet. It’s shaping up to be the least qualified and most bizarre group of people ever assembled for an Administration’s cabinet. Pete Hegseth, a weekend Fox News host has been nominated for Secretary of Defense. Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a man directly responsible for the death of 81 children, has been nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
It goes on, and frankly, it gets worse.
These aren’t serious people, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t cause serious damage and harm.
We are going to have to make the case that Trump and those around him are incompetent, breed chaos, and as a result are not working for the American people. We had to do this once before, but can we be honest? All that resistance stuff, in which I was an enthusiastic participant, didn’t help much. I might be wrong, but I think it just got us social media engagement and was a bit cringe to anybody already not in it with us.
That being said, I think we learned quite a bit. Like it or not, we are here again and this time we can take the lessons we learned and do it better.
Here’s what I’m thinking:
Don’t Set Your Hair on Fire
Things are likely going to be bad and crazy, but we have to stay measured and focused by referring to the facts and reinforcing the narrative. No all caps posting, my friends. Also, we can’t publicly freak out about everything. We’ve got to be absolutely shrewd when Trump does things specifically to provoke us. If they do immigration raids and focus on violent offenders, then we probably should seriously consider not saying anything, right? Because removing undocumented violent offenders is not something that will get people upset.
As a rule of thumb, if you are going to shine a light on something picture talking to your uncle that voted for Obama twice and Trump once or twice. What will get that uncle upset? Focus on those things.
Be Loud, But Not Necessarily on Social Media
There will be time when we need to get loud. When those times happen consider not using social media. Instead, use your phone. During the cabinet nomination process call and email your Senators and tell them to vote down the least qualified nominees. Use your phone to text your relatives in states with Republican Senators and ask them to do the same thing.
Melt the phones and clutter their inboxes. Again, everybody can do this regardless if your Senators are Democrat or Republican. That being said, purple states like North Carolina with Republican Senators are gold. Especially if they are going to be on the ballot in 2026. Really put the pressure on them by calling and emailing. If you get a chance to go to a downhill or see them at the grocery store, don’t be a jerk. Be kind and uncompromising. Remember, you are talking to a human being that you are trying to persuade.
Keep Receipts
If the market dips, prices rises, or pain is afflicted, then make sure people know who is responsible. Whether it is in conversation or the occasional measured and totally chill social media post, tie the effect to the policy that Trump put into place.
Do Not Directly Engage in Culture Wars.
The culture war battlefields are filled with landmines. You can’t win them without taking a lot of damage. That damage might not be immediate either, some times you can say something in a clip in 2019 and it’ll come back to bit you in an attack ad in 2024. Now, I’m not saying that we leave people out to dry. No, I’m saying that we can’t directly engage with culture war issues. Don’t be pulled into an argument about *the* issue. Instead, pivot away from it and make it part of a larger story.
Sarah McBride is an openly transgender person was was just elected to Congress. Republican Nancy Mace wasted no time trying to start a culture war over which bathroom Rep-Elect McBride would be allowed to use. Rather than take on Mace over the topic of bathrooms, McBride used the opportunity to demonstrate incredible grace and a good amount of political shrewdness.
McBride said this about Mace’s move:
“It is an attempt to distract from what they are actually doing. Every single time, every single time we hear them say the word ‘trans,’ look what they’re doing with their right hand. Look at what they’re doing to pick the pocket of American workers, to fleece seniors by privatizing Social Security and Medicare.”
Boom! Pivot from the culture war trap and make it about the larger narrative.
Do Not Spend Time Trying to Persuade People That Won’t Move.
There are people in your life that will be MAGA until the bitter end. Don’t spend time trying to persuade them because they aren’t moving. Hopefully, they will come to you with changed minds, but you’re not going to be able to make them. Instead, there are a lot of reluctant Trump voters out there, such as those that just wanted prices to go down. Those are the people to focus time and energy on because they can be moved.
Stay on Target
In short we are trying to do three things:
Run out the clock
Maximize the political pressure
Keep Score
The narrative we are always trying to reinforce is that these people are chaotic and unqualified and their MAGA policies cause the American people harm. After eight years of warning this country not to touch the hot stove, they still did it. Okay, fine we couldn’t stop that but we can make clear all the reasons why they got burned in the hopes they won’t touch it again.
Keeping your powder dry, choosing your battles, and emphasizing effective communication are the strategies that I agree will provide the best bang for the buck. Having now run out of cliches on my part, I think you have listed excellent points that I hope to see manifested by the public and, if dreams are counted, by our rational, reasonable political representatives in this next Congress. The priorities for effective resistance, however, seem hazy to me at this point. There does not seem to be an organizing force among the Dems, who one would expect to provide the basic strategic targets and focus for the effort. Perhaps they are still trying to identify the path that would oppose the worst anticipated policies without goring any of their own funding oxes (donors). For example, expecting Shumer, who represents Wall Street in more ways than one, to get onboard completely with Bernie Sanders' bill capping bank card interest rates at 10%, is unrealistic. Even if he were to sign onto Sanders' bill, it would likely be as a virtue signal, he and his donors secure in the knowledge that it will never pass.
Enough in the weeds. I just wanted to support your observations and recommendations at the point. These days, I feel a bit like King Theoden, standing on the walls of Helms Deep, the rain pelting down, 10,000 orcs massed below him ready to attack with no quarter to be expected, quietly memorializing the dawn of the great struggle - "And so it begins."
I look forward to your future postings here.