Organizing Blueprint to Kill MAGA (Step 1)
Govern by Principles
This is Step 1 in my six-part series on how to kill the MAGA movement. You can read the introduction here.
The first course correction that progressives need to make is to commit to what we believe in. What are our core principles?
Democrats spend a lot of their messaging being “woke” which in and of itself is not a bad thing. Woke is simply an awareness of social inequalities such as racial injustice, sexism, and the denial of LGBTQ rights. However, over time, many Democrats became self-important caricatures of themselves which allowed MAGA chuds to weaponize the very thing that makes us morally superior to MAGAs in the first place.
For a prime example of the opening Democrats gave the GOP, take a look at the preamble to the Democratic Party’s 2024 Platform:
Seriously? This is the first thing you read in the platform?
No offense to Native Americans and their history, but putting nonsense like this at the top of your party platform is just asking for the rightwing blowhards to ridicule you for “honoring native communities” when modern-day Americans are struggling to pay rent or find a job (or whatever). As George Bush would have said, “It’s the price of eggs, stupid.”
The Democrats’ smug and reflexive woke attempts to pander to every tiny subgroup became live ammo for assaults from Fox News, OAN, Newsmax and all the rightwing social media grifters, and it is one hundred percent self-inflicted. Why are we giving them big fat juicy gifts like this? Why did we make it so easy for them?
These self-owns detract from our core message of equal treatment for all and gives Trump and his MAGA chuds the ability to fight us on their terms, not ours. They instantly and continuously put Democrats on the defensive. In a war, you can be right (and dead) or you can recognize the tactical reality and work within that reality to advance your goals–and stay alive to fight another day.
Core Progressive Principles
The Democratic Party platform is 91 pages long and while most of it is inarguably the right way to approach the world, we can simplify what progressives stand for with just two core principles:
Equal opportunity and equal treatment for all
Personal liberty with shared responsibility
Think about it. Any plank in the platform that is not consistent with one or both of these core principles should be removed. If there is a conflict between different planks, go back to the core principles to resolve them.
One of the most basic tenets of effective messaging is simplify!
MAGA: An Example in Principles
The GOP has their own core principle1: “Make America Great Again.” All of their messaging relates back to this core MAGA principle. It is simple and to-the-point even if it is essentially meaningless. Millions of Americans instantly relate to it which is why it works.
Why is America not great according to MAGA? Because of the immigrants, the minorities, the trans folks, the women getting abortions. Because of everyone else. People love to blame others for their problems and Trump, like most authoritarians, is an expert at tapping into today’s zeitgeist. He relentlessly tells people how miserable they are and how awful the country is, and then he gives them someone (else) to blame for the misery he just convinced them they all have.
MAGA is a morally vile principle that appeals to people’s racism, sexism, and general bigotry and victimhood, but it nevertheless is one that works really well for the GOP. When people see the world changing (as it inevitably does) and ostensibly leaving them behind, they want to blame someone. This is human nature.
All Trump has to do is repeatedly hit that one simple MAGA principle every time he speaks while Democrats flail about trying to explain 57 different planks in nine different categories to voters. Because MAGA is so on-point and so simple, no one ever talks about their true agenda.
You see the problem?
Another way to frame our two progressive principles is this:
Everyone, including people who don’t vote for us or who do not agree with us or who have more or less money than us, have the same rights and deserve the same opportunities. In other words, be fair.
Do what makes you happy but do not be a dick or do harm to your neighbors. In other words, be kind.
Let’s look at a sample picked from the platform at random of how this might work in the real world.
Gaza: An Example in Principles
The Israel / Gaza conflict is a good example of how this should work for progressives. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris ran two different ads and two different messages that depended on the demographics where the ads ran.
In Michigan, with its large Muslim-American population, her ad talked about how she supported the relief efforts in Gaza, and she said she "will not be silent." The ad shows Harris saying, "What has happened in Gaza in the past nine months is devastating. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering.”
Meanwhile, one of her Pennsylvania ads showed a clip from Harris’s DNC speech where she said, "Let me be clear, I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel's ability to defend itself." The part of her speech where she advocates for peace in Gaza was not included in the ad.
So which is it? Did she support the civilians in Gaza who are being killed by Israeli bombs? Or did she support the Prime Minister Netanyahu and his Israeli government that is defending Israel from Hamas’s terror attacks?
To be fair, different groups have different priorities and candidates naturally want to speak to their issues. But instead of having a single, principled position, Harris came across as equivocating, of trying to have it both ways. Trump pounced on the perception of being wishy washy and flip flopping.
Perhaps voters would have responded better to a message that reflects our core principle of treating everyone equally and consistently:
“Hamas is a violent terrorist organization that attacked Israel and killed almost 1200 people in a single day, including over 800 innocent civilians. Israel, like every country, has a right to defend itself but rightwing Netanyahu has gone too far by unnecessarily invading the entirety of Gaza with overwhelming force. His war has killed more than 50,000 people, 80% of whom were civilians.
“Israel needs to withdraw immediately, secure the border, prevent Hamas from further attacks, and help Gazans restore their lives and homes.”
Of course the Mideast situation is not simple. Israel claims the only way to prevent future attacks is to eliminate Hamas entirely. There are hostages to rescue and an effective way to secure the border is a complex and difficult question. But the point here is that by being consistent and treating both sides as having done wrong but also having legitimate concerns and needs, progressives can show voters and the world that we are honest, consistent, and trying to do the right thing for everyone without pandering and shifting with the political winds.
Would this message have angered some voters? Sure, especially on the fringes where the loudmouths are. However, most people respond to political courage and honesty far more positively than they do to politicians that are constantly trying to thread the needle.
We need our leaders and politicians to be more principled.
A Message for MAGAs
When I say that we should treat everyone fairly and equally, I do not mean to imply that we let Trump, Musk or other MAGAs go unanswered. When Republicans go against these two principles then we attack that. Every progressive social media post, every TikTok and YouTube short, every TV segment or main-stream media article should be calling out how Republicans stifle opportunity and equality, how they are destroying the economy and the middle class while Democrats lift up everyone; including Republican voters. Be creative so our content goes viral even while it is suppressed by the billionaires who control the social media platforms.
These messages are not directed at the base; they already vote for Democrats. These messages are directed at independents and MAGAs, who will not convert because of any one post or tweet. It is the underlying signal amongst the MAGA noise that will eventually penetrate and start to have an effect.
We will examine the details of messaging in another article so for now, whenever you interact politically with others, frame everything you say and do around these two core principles. Remember to simplify. Voters will start to recognize that progressives are on everyone’s side, in contrast to the billionaire scammers like Musk and Trump.
People will start to shift back to progressives over time as we combine our principled approach and messaging with exposure of the growing damage to voters’ everyday lives as Musk rampages through the federal government. This is already starting to happen as Trump voters and veterans are fired, as MAGAs lose Medicaid coverage, as Musk invades Social Security with the intent to privatize (and profit from it), and so on.
Keep the pressure on, and keep a singular focus on being principled and we will win.
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☮️ Peace ☮️
To be clear, “Make America Great Again” is Trump’s superficial principle for the masses. The GOP elite’s core principle is more along the lines of, “Get as much power and as much money as possible for us, the rich and white elites.” But that does not sell very well to the general MAGA public, so they went with a propaganda message instead. 🤷🏻♂️