Last night, news began to surface that Trump had dismissed Inspector General Linick at Pompeo’s request and that Linick was not only investigating Pompeo’s improper using of State Department staff, but the actions of the Trump administration likely involved creating a fake emergency in order to justify the sale of $8B in arms to Saudi Arabia. Then Donald Trump did what he does best — he held a press conference where he confirmed most of that salacious information, while dropping a bomb that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine.
A few hours later, the White House physician sent out a memo that described what happened, only he never confirmed that Trump was actually taking the medication. Voila! Instead of people now focusing on Pompeo, Trump, Saudi Arabia and the reason for canning Linick, everyone is consumed with whether the president is taking a dangerous medication or lying about it. He has once again diverted the attention and lost no real political ground in doing it. Diversion is Trump’s forte.
The hard question we all need to face at this point, is that given the state of the pandemic and how limited in-person campaign rallies will be leading up to November, how will Democrats maneuver against Trump, a master at manipulating the news cycle? He not only has complete control over the media with his position as president, but he has the ability to outrage and stun and then deflect any accusations leveled at him. With both sides utilizing virtual campaigns, this circumstance and skill set seem to favor Trump. That is scary.
How will Democrats compete with the new parameters of the presidential race? One of Joe Biden’s greatest strengths is running a strong traditional campaign. What are Democrats’ strengths in this lock-down arena if Trump can so easily re-direct the media and the public and he continues to control the news cycle? (I’m even inadvertently guilty of falling for it — compare the two tweets above: I used the phrase “BREAKING” for the one with him saying he was on the controversial medication, yet inadvertently left “BREAKING” off of the tweet with the really critical admission.)
Considering Trump’s strengths, the pandemic and the sudden change in how campaigns will need to be run this year, what are Democrats biggest weaknesses leading into November?
Also, in keeping with this theme and to give you a much needed laugh, watch this:
Chronicling every unlawful, corrupt, false, and criminal act by this president* is important, both for now and for history, but the entire litany of three and a half years of increasingly unbelievably violations of every possible norm and regulation and law and decency amounts to nothing because he's still at it, with impunity since his being cleared in the impeachment (his words not mine). What's coming between now and the election (assuming he doesn't convince his Supreme Court that holding an election in November, with a second wave of the invisible enemy, with on-site voting is simply too dangerous) is going to make all that's past look like a prologue. We're watching the whirlpool right up until we go down with it.
Democrats, to be frank, are amateurs at election campaign strategy in 2020. Trumputin's had three years to master it and it works - his every utterance, tweet elicits immediate response from the media and the Democrats, making them play defense, which, in politics, is tantamount to admission that there is something they need to defend. They need to find people - not old-line politicians but aggressive, media-savvy, unintimidated younger people - who can craft a message that this administration's principal characteristic is corruption starting the day after the election in 2016 and stay on that message AND how that corruption has made every American's life worse and why trumputin's favoring of the wealthiest Americans is a huge detriment to their lives. Trumputin has soooooo many weaknesses, I'm disappointed in how little Democrats have made use of them. I like Joe, but this campaign is not his; it has to be given to people who understand how trumputin's messaging actually works.
To say “stop the burn fade” is almost impossible, as you never really know for sure which is worst when he runs these assaults on truth.
MSM should continue to report, but stop the foolishness of trying to play devils advocate. People like Chris Cuomo, Ari Melber and Chuck Todd are TERRIBLE when it comes to this.
People are confused enough without MSM questioning whether there is merit to clearly reckless behavior. The same can be said for criminality. If I had a nickel for every time Ari said “Yes, but does this rise to the level of his removal from office.” I could have paid a months bills during Trump’s impeachment.
The damage done? People are constantly moving the goal posts to “what is really criminal”, because those reporting the story are steadily feeding that question almost subliminally.
Enough of that crap. Call it what it is, and stop acting like ANY of this makes sense if you turn the page a certain way!
During the impeachment I watched week after week of Trump trotting one ludicrous outrage after another out to pre-test the level of media outrage, and every time MSM reacted to it as if “well this is our new normal” they pushed it another 25 yards.
But I digress. Just STOP trying to follow the leader with his latest outrage, there are new ones every five minutes. ANYTHING he’s done in the past 3.5 years would have ended the presidency of any DECENT human. Nixon stepped down in shame and humiliation, Trump has neither of those things.
EXTORTING a foreign president ABSOLUTELY was enough to have removed him. EMOLUMENTS violations MORE THAN ENOUGH. Perversion of justice, MORE THAN ENOUGH. Lastly, GROSS INCOMPETENCE, and WILLFUL CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE, resulting in the deaths of what is now tracking to be 165,000 Americans. MORE THAN ENOUGH.
If Democrats cannot crush Donald Trump this Election Day? We deserve to lose our democracy.
Democrats need to tell the truth, hide nothing, call bs on Trump's outrageous distractions, and bring the focus back to real issues facing the nation, and highlight Trump's crimes. This does not mean finger-pointing. It means stating the case clearly and moving on without emotion. It's simple. Do not - and I repeat - do not follow Trump's bouncing ball.
I am scared to death of this up coming election, tRump has the upper hand. I wish I would see Dems doing fact check ads! There is plenty happening in this admin to do endless ads with facts! Here in KY the Rep ads for McConnell and Massie are full of lies and they take off the gloves when attacking their opponents. They hit hard. Dems don't do that! They need to get down in the mud and fight!
I think we have become numb to "Breaking", we have never seen anything like this admin before! Their blatant disregard for anything legal, just, moral is mind numbing. Their destruction has now become daily, breaking has turned into "not surprised".
tRumplicans were good at 3 card Monte, with tRump they are now masters. Dems, mostly, have always taken the high ground, they can't anymore. My God there is enough video to fight tRump & his minions with their own words! If the Dems don't kick it up, tRump will win and the price, we pay, will be higher.
I am of split mind on this. He DOES hold the attention of the country and the news media just laps up whatever outrageous crap comes out of his mouth while ignoring the underlying corruption or illegality. I can't decide if just ignoring him out of existence by going forward with a blitz of information on how to move things forward and make a positive change in this country is the way to go. Or punch back as nasty and vile as possible on EVERYTHING he says or does. Maybe some combination of the above? The Dems do not have to convince other dems to vote for Biden, their target should be independents or disillusioned Repubs. They should not let plump dictate the terms of how this campaign is run, they need to set the tempo and issues. I also see a serious lack of pushing out ANY message in the rural parts of Va., looks like 2018 all over again for congress/local stuff. They need to stop writing off areas and at least try. My preference is for moving forward & how to fix the many issues this country has both economically and socially.
yes, I kept saying this last night and this morning. how everyone drinks his poisonous kool aid, follows him down the rabbit hole at our own expense and that maybe we need to STOP IT RIGHT NOW and FOCUS on the REAL SCANDALS EMERGING EVERY DAY.
It's going to sound counterintuitive, but I say that there need to be appearances on Fox News. Yes, I know that that news organization is nothing but a Trump mouthpiece, but you aren't going to win national elections by completely ignoring the tens of millions of people who vote for the other side.
My worry is that, other than saying Trump is bad, Dems are not presenting a valid detailed alternate vision of what the country should be. Even though many can agree that Trump must be defeated, this lack of tangible vision will not excite Independents and demotivated Dems and may lead to successful swing state shenanigans similar to 2016. I want to be wrong. That said, we need a much more direct, coordinated, loud and proud attack plan from Dems or.... burnt toast once again, which will spell the end of any recognizable future.
The Democratic party has no spine, and no ability to challenge him. They buckle every single time. He's been impeached, yet nothing has changed. Pelosi should've let more charges be leveled against him. I'm so worried that we won't even have an election in November. We are living in a failed state.
I don't understand why everyone is so up in arms over this! Who cares what medications he takes unless they are illegal? A ton of people take lots of weird stuff that they think will be safe and help what ever medical condition they have and no one bats an eye. I say let's let his dumb self take dangerous medication if he wants to - that's on him and his physician. The media allows themselves to be manipulated. They already know he does this - why do they continually fall for it?
The D’s won’t go for the devastating shot while the Goppers will not hesitate to rip your throat out with lies and innuendo. It’s time to fight fire with hotter fire. Lots of it.
Nancy threw some fast and furious shade and it was perfect. There needs to be LOTS more shade throwing and quick responses from a wide array of Democrats just chomping at the bit to talk to the media about Trump's latest Gaslighting/Distraction/Deflection/Projection AND also to lead the conversation from Trump TO the Democratic message and plans for the future. Biden needs to be in the mix, but LOTS of Dems should be front line warriors in this media war now. And the message needs to be coherent but not necessarily lockstep. Repubs do lockstep. Dems do chaos. Chaos can be great if it feels energetic and positive. So we need to be careful--maybe find some kind of "measured" way to do our chaotic thing. Anyway, that's one thing I've been thinking about a lot. ALSO: name the VP already!!! Get people excited. THAT would take the shine of Trump's nose for a bit. Then, of course, he and his cabal will respond, but that's okay. They'll be gone in November. Right!!??
You nailed it very succinctly. we should be promoting what Biden is doing and saying, rather than what Trump is doing and say when he gives to talk or hosting a town hall that should be number one. We also need to focus on voting and attempt to subvert the election. On the pandemic he's recruiting pro-trump doctors for TV. That when I think TV can take care of itself. Clear
We need a team of journalists and writers who go back to the headline facts amount corruption and illegal manoeuvres from the WH and Friends and are not distracted by "breaking" knee jerk Trump news. As you say yourself you were distracted. We can get the idiot stuff from other sources but please keep the really bad and illegal acts committed news in the mainstream.
Chronicling every unlawful, corrupt, false, and criminal act by this president* is important, both for now and for history, but the entire litany of three and a half years of increasingly unbelievably violations of every possible norm and regulation and law and decency amounts to nothing because he's still at it, with impunity since his being cleared in the impeachment (his words not mine). What's coming between now and the election (assuming he doesn't convince his Supreme Court that holding an election in November, with a second wave of the invisible enemy, with on-site voting is simply too dangerous) is going to make all that's past look like a prologue. We're watching the whirlpool right up until we go down with it.
Democrats, to be frank, are amateurs at election campaign strategy in 2020. Trumputin's had three years to master it and it works - his every utterance, tweet elicits immediate response from the media and the Democrats, making them play defense, which, in politics, is tantamount to admission that there is something they need to defend. They need to find people - not old-line politicians but aggressive, media-savvy, unintimidated younger people - who can craft a message that this administration's principal characteristic is corruption starting the day after the election in 2016 and stay on that message AND how that corruption has made every American's life worse and why trumputin's favoring of the wealthiest Americans is a huge detriment to their lives. Trumputin has soooooo many weaknesses, I'm disappointed in how little Democrats have made use of them. I like Joe, but this campaign is not his; it has to be given to people who understand how trumputin's messaging actually works.
To say “stop the burn fade” is almost impossible, as you never really know for sure which is worst when he runs these assaults on truth.
MSM should continue to report, but stop the foolishness of trying to play devils advocate. People like Chris Cuomo, Ari Melber and Chuck Todd are TERRIBLE when it comes to this.
People are confused enough without MSM questioning whether there is merit to clearly reckless behavior. The same can be said for criminality. If I had a nickel for every time Ari said “Yes, but does this rise to the level of his removal from office.” I could have paid a months bills during Trump’s impeachment.
The damage done? People are constantly moving the goal posts to “what is really criminal”, because those reporting the story are steadily feeding that question almost subliminally.
Enough of that crap. Call it what it is, and stop acting like ANY of this makes sense if you turn the page a certain way!
During the impeachment I watched week after week of Trump trotting one ludicrous outrage after another out to pre-test the level of media outrage, and every time MSM reacted to it as if “well this is our new normal” they pushed it another 25 yards.
But I digress. Just STOP trying to follow the leader with his latest outrage, there are new ones every five minutes. ANYTHING he’s done in the past 3.5 years would have ended the presidency of any DECENT human. Nixon stepped down in shame and humiliation, Trump has neither of those things.
EXTORTING a foreign president ABSOLUTELY was enough to have removed him. EMOLUMENTS violations MORE THAN ENOUGH. Perversion of justice, MORE THAN ENOUGH. Lastly, GROSS INCOMPETENCE, and WILLFUL CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE, resulting in the deaths of what is now tracking to be 165,000 Americans. MORE THAN ENOUGH.
If Democrats cannot crush Donald Trump this Election Day? We deserve to lose our democracy.
Democrats need to tell the truth, hide nothing, call bs on Trump's outrageous distractions, and bring the focus back to real issues facing the nation, and highlight Trump's crimes. This does not mean finger-pointing. It means stating the case clearly and moving on without emotion. It's simple. Do not - and I repeat - do not follow Trump's bouncing ball.
I am scared to death of this up coming election, tRump has the upper hand. I wish I would see Dems doing fact check ads! There is plenty happening in this admin to do endless ads with facts! Here in KY the Rep ads for McConnell and Massie are full of lies and they take off the gloves when attacking their opponents. They hit hard. Dems don't do that! They need to get down in the mud and fight!
I think we have become numb to "Breaking", we have never seen anything like this admin before! Their blatant disregard for anything legal, just, moral is mind numbing. Their destruction has now become daily, breaking has turned into "not surprised".
tRumplicans were good at 3 card Monte, with tRump they are now masters. Dems, mostly, have always taken the high ground, they can't anymore. My God there is enough video to fight tRump & his minions with their own words! If the Dems don't kick it up, tRump will win and the price, we pay, will be higher.
Yes, I am scared!
I am of split mind on this. He DOES hold the attention of the country and the news media just laps up whatever outrageous crap comes out of his mouth while ignoring the underlying corruption or illegality. I can't decide if just ignoring him out of existence by going forward with a blitz of information on how to move things forward and make a positive change in this country is the way to go. Or punch back as nasty and vile as possible on EVERYTHING he says or does. Maybe some combination of the above? The Dems do not have to convince other dems to vote for Biden, their target should be independents or disillusioned Repubs. They should not let plump dictate the terms of how this campaign is run, they need to set the tempo and issues. I also see a serious lack of pushing out ANY message in the rural parts of Va., looks like 2018 all over again for congress/local stuff. They need to stop writing off areas and at least try. My preference is for moving forward & how to fix the many issues this country has both economically and socially.
yes, I kept saying this last night and this morning. how everyone drinks his poisonous kool aid, follows him down the rabbit hole at our own expense and that maybe we need to STOP IT RIGHT NOW and FOCUS on the REAL SCANDALS EMERGING EVERY DAY.
It's going to sound counterintuitive, but I say that there need to be appearances on Fox News. Yes, I know that that news organization is nothing but a Trump mouthpiece, but you aren't going to win national elections by completely ignoring the tens of millions of people who vote for the other side.
My worry is that, other than saying Trump is bad, Dems are not presenting a valid detailed alternate vision of what the country should be. Even though many can agree that Trump must be defeated, this lack of tangible vision will not excite Independents and demotivated Dems and may lead to successful swing state shenanigans similar to 2016. I want to be wrong. That said, we need a much more direct, coordinated, loud and proud attack plan from Dems or.... burnt toast once again, which will spell the end of any recognizable future.
Focus on the most critical issue, the fake emergency crisis to sell the Saudis the arms in the first place
The Democratic party has no spine, and no ability to challenge him. They buckle every single time. He's been impeached, yet nothing has changed. Pelosi should've let more charges be leveled against him. I'm so worried that we won't even have an election in November. We are living in a failed state.
I don't understand why everyone is so up in arms over this! Who cares what medications he takes unless they are illegal? A ton of people take lots of weird stuff that they think will be safe and help what ever medical condition they have and no one bats an eye. I say let's let his dumb self take dangerous medication if he wants to - that's on him and his physician. The media allows themselves to be manipulated. They already know he does this - why do they continually fall for it?
The D’s won’t go for the devastating shot while the Goppers will not hesitate to rip your throat out with lies and innuendo. It’s time to fight fire with hotter fire. Lots of it.
Nancy threw some fast and furious shade and it was perfect. There needs to be LOTS more shade throwing and quick responses from a wide array of Democrats just chomping at the bit to talk to the media about Trump's latest Gaslighting/Distraction/Deflection/Projection AND also to lead the conversation from Trump TO the Democratic message and plans for the future. Biden needs to be in the mix, but LOTS of Dems should be front line warriors in this media war now. And the message needs to be coherent but not necessarily lockstep. Repubs do lockstep. Dems do chaos. Chaos can be great if it feels energetic and positive. So we need to be careful--maybe find some kind of "measured" way to do our chaotic thing. Anyway, that's one thing I've been thinking about a lot. ALSO: name the VP already!!! Get people excited. THAT would take the shine of Trump's nose for a bit. Then, of course, he and his cabal will respond, but that's okay. They'll be gone in November. Right!!??
You nailed it very succinctly. we should be promoting what Biden is doing and saying, rather than what Trump is doing and say when he gives to talk or hosting a town hall that should be number one. We also need to focus on voting and attempt to subvert the election. On the pandemic he's recruiting pro-trump doctors for TV. That when I think TV can take care of itself. Clear
We need a team of journalists and writers who go back to the headline facts amount corruption and illegal manoeuvres from the WH and Friends and are not distracted by "breaking" knee jerk Trump news. As you say yourself you were distracted. We can get the idiot stuff from other sources but please keep the really bad and illegal acts committed news in the mainstream.