On Tuesday, June 4, 2024 at 1:22:04 PM UTC+2 John Clark wrote:
On Mon, Jun 3, 2024 at 5:20 PM PGC <m...@gmail.com> wrote: *> Don't underestimate feelings/perceptions, no matter how false or distorted they appear.* If you're correct (and I sure hope you're not) and the people are not interested in the facts or in the honesty or competency of their president then the only thing Biden could do to increase his odds of winning is to become just as incompetent and lie with the same machine gun rate that Convicted Felon Donald Trump has done throughout his entire life. Or Biden could simply do what the Convicted Felon In Chief tried to do in 2020 and declare that the results of the 2024 election were rigged and threaten or bribe 270 of the 538 members of the Electoral College to vote for Biden. And if that failed Biden could try to get the military to stage a coup d'état on his behalf and decree that the US Constitution is now null and void and Biden is therefore president for life. In other words you seem to be saying the only way Biden could win is if he starts behaving exactly like convicted felon Donald Trump; but then it really wouldn't matter who won the election because the country would be doomed either way. John, the idea is not for Biden to "become Trump" by emulating his behavior, but rather to understand and leverage the appeal of outsider narratives, mavericks, and reformers which resonate deeply with many Americans. Biden's extensive institutional background restricts him from adopting this posture effectively. If he continues to focus solely on reframing the discussion around actual facts and legislative successes, his campaign risks coming across as elitist, overly institutionalist, complicated, and apologetic. In game theoretic terms, Biden is ceding the initiative to Trump by allowing him to define what America means. Trump, with his powerful media presence, satisfies a collective yearning for identity, even if through falsehoods. Americans seem to prefer someone who can boldly define a narrative, however flawed. Biden could reclaim the Narrative of American Greatness. Biden should boldly counter Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan by asserting that America has always been great. Emphasize that the accomplishments and resilience of the American people are proof of this and that Trump and his ilk were not a part of that. Steal the cap. He could directly challenge whether Trump actually managed to "drain the swamp" as he promised and use specific examples where Trump failed to deliver on his promises, thereby questioning his credibility as a reformer. Keep the discourse focused on the legislative measures that would have benefited voters, had opponents not gridlocked them in congress etc. He could also adopt a more aggressive stance in general, without resorting to dishonesty: Call out Trump’s failures and present a clear contrast between the chaos under Trump and the steady progress under Biden. Or he could challenge Trump's values head-on. Hint: there isn’t much to attack. He is who he is, so the Biden campaign should make Trump their trump. Just describe what he does. He sits around with his bucket of KFC and get's angry at the news, screaming at the TV- kind of thing. Biden should Town Hall as much as he can. Emphasize America's role as a global leader and a beacon of hope and democracy. Contrast this with the isolationist and divisive rhetoric of Trump. There are so many roads/opportunities not taken even along these shallow lines I’m only sketching here. That, or they aren’t powerfully enough represented in the media. His media/PR is not managing to get these things across, even if they are trying. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/8de79aad-038d-4bfa-95de-274fbb2557den%40googlegroups.com.
