I can’t get away from an awful premonition, that despite recent trends, Trump will only get more outlandish in the weeks ahead and as a result , come UP in the polls. Already, I’m in a little shock that his stats have leveled off even with recent outrages.
The public is already numbed to his behavior: he claims that the Beirut blast was likely an attack. Now debunked, but no stain on him. Biden’s mind is going, but never mind that Trump can’t pronounce Thailand (Must be alot of leggy Asian women there) or Yosemite.
Or that the AXIOS interview should have tanked him; but in spite of all our noise about his gaffs, not much of a polls nudge.
Maybe my fears have to do with this:
What do democrats rely on to get their message across?: Convincing people. Logical arguments and proofs over a limited period to persuade wobbly voters. It works on your upper conscious brain cortex where reasoning is dominant, until a distraction causes it to fade. What got you excited and “convinced” about last week, has lost it’s juice as you are focusing on newer events this week.
Examples: The very powerful botched Trump Church Photo Op in the midst of the protests; and the temporary shock of learning of the Russian bounties on US military for Taliban soldiers. And how about that dejected walk of shame on the Tarmac after the fizzled Tulsa Rally.
Our problem : We say, OKAY we showed that already, what’s next? We are afraid of annoying voters.
What do Trump-Republicans rely on to get their message across? CONDITIONING. Finding a shiny object message, that may or may not have any substantive proof, but can trigger an emotion. [ Like Law and Order! or lately: I am the first president to enact a Veterans Choice bill (a lie: Obama did it in 2014).]
Now here’s the important part. REPEATING THE HELL OUT OF IT, while pretending your little snippets of “proof” [ localized angry protesters clashing with police in a 2 block area of one city ) — are pervasive and widespread over the nation. A lie, but so what? Voters get activated; a rural housewife becomes frightened that hordes of looting banshees will descend on her remote neighborhood.
Then she may begin to get annoyed with it’s repetition. But Instead of backing down, YOU STEP IT UP, GET LOUDER, REPEAT IT EVEN MORE. It doesn’t matter that the upper conscious brains of voters say, Okay enough — you are working on the LOWER BRAIN that solidifies the idea by exposure and repetition alone. The lower brain doesn’t give a crap about truth, only how it’s activated and trained.
The repeated images of city violence and the vainglorious savior Trump, get imprinted. So do his lying claims: The Dems are at fault for no renewed COVID relief bill: I alone saved you.
Now yes, Trump will look for another 2-3 shiny objects, and once something shows stick-to-the-wall potential, he’ll run and run and run and run with that. There’s no punishment or teacher who sends you to the principal if your message is untrue. No penalties for lying, so what the hell.
One more reminder: Remember how in 2016, with Trump ratings in the toilet, he continued to persist with Hillary-and-the-emails? Then when the Comey announcement came, he re-intensified his chant. We were long sick of this exaggerated issue. Guess what? He won on it anyway. He remembers that. Do we?
So what do we do WHEN his ratings bounce back up, not IF ? Maybe play the same game ourselves.
It would be a very very happy day for me to be wrong about this.