Just Tell The Truth
That's all contra-MAGA forces should be doing
Like many of you, I’m increasingly frustrated by the fecklessness of the Democratic Party. At a time when Democrats should be uniting to save American Democracy, the Party is wracked by infighting about the best (and worst) ways to win future elections.
The mistake Democrats and anti-MAGA former Republicans have consistently made is believing that the nation’s shift toward authoritarianism can be halted and reversed by an election. It can’t.
Instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on more focus groups, polls, and surveys, the Democratic Party infrastructure and others who oppose the MAGA assault on democracy should be spending every dime they have on counter-programming. They should be investing heavily in simply telling the American people the Truth.
I’ll provide some basic examples, but first, I want you to understand the core of the problem. Simply stated, it’s misinformation.
I live in a suburban Southern town that is rurally adjacent. We have a municipal police department, trash pickup, and other suburban amenities, but a dairy farm and two horse pastures are within a quarter mile of my house.
Donald Trump received 73% of the votes in my county in the last election. By that measure, you might assume that three-quarters of the people here are MAGA-hat-wearing, anti-immigration, pro-authoritarian, Trump supporters. You would be wrong.
Most people I know and meet here voted for Trump, but not because they are any of those things. It’s because they don’t know what they don’t know.
We’re lucky to have access to city and county newspapers almost daily. Unfortunately, both tend to promote conservative voices and limit opposition voices. However, we’re still better off than our neighbors in nearby counties, who have no daily or weekly newspaper focused on their communities. When they do get news, it’s mainly from the internet.
The people here are good. They are kind and caring. They are friendly and welcoming.
They are also certain that the country has been going to hell for decades. They believe that Democrats want to take their guns and force their children to be trans. They know that Los Angeles is experiencing massive riots and “insurrection.” They don’t know what they don’t know.
The Democratic Party and other anti-authoritarian groups tell me that I’m supposed to go out and explain to my neighbors why they are wrong. I’m supposed to convince these good people that they’ve been misinformed. It’s up to me.
Meanwhile, they’ll spend $200 million on focus groups and polls to figure out how to get young men to vote for Democrats.
Do you know what they should be spending that money on? Billboards.
They should put up billboards all over Tennessee and other Red states that tell people the TRUTH. Here are some examples of what I’d put on billboards across rural and suburban Tennessee:
Tennessee has 2x the murder rate of California. Call Gov. Lee and ask why!
Your property taxes pay for rich folks to send their kids to private schools. Call your State Rep and ask why.
Tennessee ranks #31 in education. Call your State Rep. and ask why!
These three facts are true in Tennessee, but the average voter here doesn’t know.
If they did know—if information like this were presented to them over and over again—they would rail against the corrupt Republican control of this state. But they don’t know, because these facts don’t show up in their Facebook feeds or on Truth Social.
The GOP in Tennessee and around the country has become so adept at misinformation that when people start to realize that there are problems, Republicans just blame Democrats.
Republicans claim that education is bad because Democrats put DEI in schools. Murder is a problem because Democrats want to take away your guns, so you can’t defend yourself. The state wants everyone to be able to send their kids to private school because Democrats use public schools to turn kids trans.
Republicans lie to the people, over and over again, year after year, to solidify their one-party autocratic rule.
Meanwhile, Democrats run focus groups to try to divine the messaging that might give them a couple of extra points in a single election in a specific district or state, while ignoring every part of the U.S. where the GOP has succeeded in solidifying their one-party autocratic rule.
Democrats and contra-MAGA groups should stop spending all their money on trying to win a few elections here and there and start spending their considerable resources on winning the hearts and minds of Americans across the entire country.