Less than three months to E-Day

I know yesterday’s post was, in some ways, introspective, but it’s important to me that readers know I understand the challenges of life and that, while at times all may seem lost, there’s a way back if you seek a helping hand to put things back together. I know that the political situation in the US is extremely challenging, much as it is here in the UK, but it has been this way before, and right has a habit of defeating wrong if we embrace a collective approach to resistance. I know many activists feel a sense of frustration and powerlessness, given the sometimes lamentable efforts of the Democratic establishment. The sense that nobody’s listening can be soul-destroying.

What I would say is, “Hang on in there”, because millions are feeling the same frustration as you, and organising is not what it was in the time of the Civil Rights Movement. We now live in a ‘quick-fix’ society in which diminishing attention span is king and the social media ecosystem defines truth as what the regime deems it to be. That’s a hard obstacle to overcome when the source of the tyranny has taken the media hostage. Of course it doesn’t help when the opposition party is cosplaying Republican lite.

With less than three months before E-Day, we are about to enter a whole new world of attacks on the election process, and a blitzkrieg of divisive propaganda the likes of which we have never seen is incoming. The challenge for Democratic activists across the country is to speak to and engage with people where you meet them. In the supermarket, the bar, the mall, the gym and on the street.

The failure of the Democratic establishment to put forward a coherent proposition other than vote for us because the other guy is a fascist speaks to where we are, leaving the responsibility of the mission to save American democracy firmly on the shoulders of those who can sell hope, not fear. People who can help banish the politics of division and hate. Activists are the tip of the spear, and the ability to articulate an argument for a better tomorrow has never been more vital than in this moment.

It would be fair to say that experience tells us the battle lines are already drawn, and the political trenches are full of opposing views that are preparing to go over the top and do battle. There’s no question that this is all about motivating those who chose not to vote in 2024, because there are 90 million votes up for grabs. The good news is that Democrats aren’t being forced to defend the indefensible, so selling a vision of hope versus fear, on paper at least, should be easier.

It’s taken me far too long to understand the true power of hate and lies. On the surface, you would think this can be addressed by simply pointing people to the facts and the truth. If only it were that simple, we’d all live in a better world. Unfortunately, there are much darker forces at work creating propaganda to exploit our susceptibility to cult behaviour. Fred Lewsey wrote a piece about a study by Cambridge University in which:

Researchers mapped an underlying “psychological signature” for people who are predisposed to holding extreme social, political and religious attitudes and supporting violence in the name of ideology.

He opens his piece by noting:

A new study suggests that a particular mix of personality traits and types of unconscious cognition – the ways our brain takes in basic information – is a strong predictor for extremist views across a range of beliefs, including nationalism and religious fervour.

These mental characteristics include poorer working memory and slower “perceptual strategies” – the unconscious processing of changing stimuli, such as shape and colour – as well as tendencies towards impulsivity and sensation seeking.

It should be noted that this is NOT a uniquely American trait, though the US currently provides an abundant source of research to better understand it. Ironically, I believe it’s all about the need to ‘belong’ to something; it’s a little like we in Europe experienced with senseless football (soccer) violence in the UK and across Europe in the 1970s and 1980s when organised hooligans (so-called ‘firms’) engaged in acts of senseless tribal violence. It was known at the time as the ‘English Disease,’ and gained a global reputation for riots and racist abuse becoming commonplace on match days. It’s all about activating tribal instincts to cause fear.

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Political violence is just a new iteration of an age-old problem. Lewsy goes on to point out that the research:

… also maps the psychological signatures that underpin fierce political conservatism, as well as “dogmatism”: people who have a fixed worldview and are resistant to evidence.

and that:

Brains of dogmatic people are slower to process perceptual evidence, but they are more impulsive personality-wise. The mental signature for extremism across the board is a blend of conservative and dogmatic psychologies.

There is no question that the right-wing messaging monster plays into the specific trait of a resistance to evidence. This is what allows Trump to get away with what, for those of us with the ability to smell bullshit, carries no weight with MAGA devotees. The messaging is designed to trigger the lack of trust in 'government or elections, as seed which has been planted long ago and reinforced over time. It also plays into the fact that nobody likes to think they have been played. Admitting that means believing that Trump deceived them, which is an alien concept to the cult.

For Republicans, it’s all about taking grains of truth to introduce plausibility, then wrapping that grain of truth in a ball of lies so big that the truth is buried. It’s a highly effective strategy that has served Trump and the Republicans well. Nobody likes to admit they have been played, especially men, and that’s why normal people are left banging their heads against the wall trying to understand what can’t be understood. It’s why wasting time trying to reach MAGA supporters is a waste.

The focus needs to be on those who have abandoned politics because trust is nonexistent. This is where ‘people first’ politics becomes a lighthouse in an ocean of ‘corporate political capture’. It’s about speaking to voters where they are about issues that affect them. This is exactly what good progressive politicians are great at; you need look no further than Zohran Mamdani to see the difference that doing what you say works. How odd is it that we listen to politicians and rarely believe a word they say? Voters would be better off putting their case to the CEOs of corporate America, because so many politicians are merely their ventriloquist dummies.

A record number of progressive candidates will be fighting for seats in both the House and the Senate in November. The key point I would make is that transformative change does not happen overnight; we are seeing wins and losses among progressive candidates, but many of these are close races. There is certainly no reason for progressives to lose faith. The critical goal here is for everyone to push in the same direction and to, at the very least, take back the House. Then, change can be delivered from within, and the quiet revolution can gain momentum.

This is a moment in history when infighting must take a back seat to the political imperative. Things are going to get ugly enough when Trump sends his troops over the top to sow doubt in the election results, without Democrats fighting amongst themselves. The internal revolution can wait. When the enemy is at the door, the one thing you need is unity of purpose and messaging.

I think it’s beyond imperative to bring together the messaging teams that drive AOC and Mamdani to inject a unified core messaging strategy to underpin the local ads that candidates produce. It’s deeply annoying to me that there is no coherent national vision other than hoping Trump sets himself on fire, but maybe if they hand the reins of core messaging to these tried-and-tested progressive messaging shops, common policy objectives could be highlighted to provide a backdrop for more regional advertising?

I’ve got some great ads in the pipeline for the last month of the campaign and am really looking forward to seeing how they play in what will be the most consequential election in modern American history.

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