Embrace Your Power To Influence

 

Kerry Eleveld has some suggestions about how you can influence uncertain or disengaged voters within your sphere of influence and outside the realm of the Republican- wired media.  Here's a long excerpt:

So what messages should anti-Trump, pro-democracy voters transmit in their spheres of influence? It depends on who you're talking to. 

If you're talking to Trump voters who condemn the Jan. 6 insurrection but don't really want to vote for Biden, The Bulwark crew took a shot at how to engage these voters in a recent episode of Crooked Media’s “The Wilderness.”

Former Republican strategist Tim Miller suggested playing on the fear that Trump will never leave office, which many swing voters are already expressing. 

"What do you think the chances are that Trump doesn't leave office after four years?" Then wait for the answer, Miller advised, as a way to start the conversation. If they say 5%, well, that 5% is too much of a risk. After all, Trump already orchestrated a coup to stay in office the last time he lost an election. 

Generally speaking, Republicans who are open to voting for Biden don't believe he stole the 2020 election and were horrified by the violent insurrection attempt, so revisiting that concern is a worthwhile endeavor. 

However, if you're talking to voters who are primarily worried about the economy and inflation, it might be better to phrase the question as “who do you think will fight for you?” Democrats are the ones cracking down on price-gouging corporations by capping bank fees and insulin prices, while Trump is promising corporations another $2 trillion tax cut.

Younger voters might be the most difficult to reach of all the potential swing voters. As Dan Pfeiffer, former Obama senior adviser on strategy and communications, wrote on Substack Tuesday, TikTok is hurting Biden, especially among young people who are the platform’s primary users. Trump’s right-wing influencers are outgunning progressive firebrands such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on a platform that is featuring political news even as other social media platforms de-emphasize it. 

Polling suggests that Trump might be making gains with younger voters, but loss of freedoms and abortion access remain a top priority for young Democrats. Linking Biden to Democratic priorities like expanding protections of abortion, the LGBTQ+ community, and voting rights as well as cracking down on gun violence could give him a boost among young voters...

Each of us has a duty as citizens to encourage these potential voters to vote for democracy, freedom, and the rule of law, lest we lose it all in one last, free election.  Politics is not a spectator sport and, unfortunately, democracy is fragile both here and elsewhere around the world and must be fought for.  We nearly lost it all in 2020/ 21.  If we are resolute and persistent, we have a better chance of it not happening in 2024.

BONUS:  Good read about what we're up against.