In wrestling with how to unseat this disastrous POTUS in November, I struggle between insightful laments (isn’t it awful what he gets away with!), and honing what can be useful. Ironically, Trump himself (founder of Trump University, — okay, it was a sham) has primary lessons to teach us. (Swallow that gag. And no, I don’t mean the lying and race baiting.)
Democrats tend to get too “reasonable” and shy away from what appears basic, shallow, and looks too much like “gaming”. To our detriment. TOP FIVE LESSONS we can use to better advantage:
1. NEVER GIVE UP. I can’t say this enough. NEVER GIVE UP.
Think of the numerous times Trump was deep in the dumps (the Hollywood Access tape, heading into Mueller-ville, the impeachment, his slight error in misreading COVID costing 100K lives, need I go on?….) where normal souls with a conscience, would have thrown in the towel. But no matter how bad the scoreboard, he comes roaring back. Nauseating, actually. But a lesson for us.
Contrast that with how many of my Democrat friends do the opposite: even with Joe Biden’s numbers looking good they throw up their arms: “he’s gonna win again...you’ll see.” SHAME ON US. Strangely, it’s Trump’s illogical, unreasonable RESILIENCE that throws us into despair, which is part of his game.
“How does he do it?” we wonder. Never giving up. Even shameless, mean and stupid. Never giving up.
Don’t let fellow Democrats get away with this anymore! Trump doesn’t quit and he’ll tell you he’s always about to prevail , even when the stats say otherwise; even when his causes suck (which is usually). He’s always gaming, he never quits. We shouldn’t either.
2. 100% CONVICTION for our cause. Never blink in stating what you believe. You stand firmly for your causes, for your candidates regardless of the counter arguments. Total confidence.
3. PLAY OFFENSE. You direct the conversation; where the game is going, not your opponent. Be in action.
In Football, and most sports, the winner is the one with the most time in ball possession. (This is why Trump is willing to be inappropriate, shocking , as long as he gets the attention, or in effect, gets the ball back.) Hard to score if you’re on defense. Even playing lousy offense, you get more shots at the goal.
4. CONDITIONING over CONVINCING. Yes, it’s those trite but repeated soundbites that often bore more deeply into people’s souls than a well-rehearsed logical argument (yawn). This is where we are behind the times. We are still trying to CONVINCE: carefully explaining and pleading the merit of our positions, where the Republicans simply repeat catch phrases, brandings and images (CONDITIONING). [Sadly, I wonder if most voters came to “believe” Hillary was a criminal mainly because Trump repeatedly referred to her in his tweets as “Crooked Hillary.” Let’s settle on a brand name for him, and stick with it.
Confucius say: Convincing is to Conditioning as riding a bike is to a motorcycle.
5. NEVER GIVE UP. (see, I’m repeating, conditioning you.) What if between now and November we all looked everyone in the eye and said: “we’re gonna work hard and win, plain and simple.” (Regardless of the day’s polls.) That alone would actually shift the stats, I’ll bet.
The next time a fellow Democrat laments that Trump seems unstoppable: challenge them to work for a candidate (and Joe) and put on the “winning” attitude. It may be that simple.