Separating Trump from his policies
Most people will do whatever it possible to avoid admitting that they were wrong. They will come up with excuses and justifications, for as long as possible, to try and validate their original choice. People are stubborn.
I believe that one of the major problems the Democrats currently have is that they don't realize how strong a factor this is. They can point out all the faults of Trump, but it just doesn't matter to Trump supporters, as long as they have something to hang onto. In this case, that "something" are this campaign policies (protect the boarder, increase tarries, reduce safety net programs, make america great again (whatever that means). There is absolutely nothing Democrats can do to prove that these policies are categorical wrong.
The Democrats need to change the context of the entire conversation, but it will come with risk. If they validate those policies (saying that they are reasonable, but we don't agree), they have a chance to separate Trump from his base. "As Democrats, we recognize your thoughts and ideas and want to listen, but please understand that Donald Trump is not the right messenger. He is an elitist billionaire, who only cares about winning, and that is winning for himself. He will say and do anything to win, even if others, including you suffer. As long as you support Trump, your ideas will get lost in his reality-show presidency." or something like that. Of course the danger of this is that is may be seen as weak or selling out by the far left, but in actuality is just what democracy is supposed to be. Likewise, another negative thing this could lead to would be the rise of a sane, rational, intelligent, organized strong-man to replace Trump at the top of the ticket. All I know is that 90% of Republicans still approve of Trump, 90%!! Democrats have got to try something fundamentally different.
I believe that one of the major problems the Democrats currently have is that they don't realize how strong a factor this is. They can point out all the faults of Trump, but it just doesn't matter to Trump supporters, as long as they have something to hang onto. In this case, that "something" are this campaign policies (protect the boarder, increase tarries, reduce safety net programs, make america great again (whatever that means). There is absolutely nothing Democrats can do to prove that these policies are categorical wrong.
The Democrats need to change the context of the entire conversation, but it will come with risk. If they validate those policies (saying that they are reasonable, but we don't agree), they have a chance to separate Trump from his base. "As Democrats, we recognize your thoughts and ideas and want to listen, but please understand that Donald Trump is not the right messenger. He is an elitist billionaire, who only cares about winning, and that is winning for himself. He will say and do anything to win, even if others, including you suffer. As long as you support Trump, your ideas will get lost in his reality-show presidency." or something like that. Of course the danger of this is that is may be seen as weak or selling out by the far left, but in actuality is just what democracy is supposed to be. Likewise, another negative thing this could lead to would be the rise of a sane, rational, intelligent, organized strong-man to replace Trump at the top of the ticket. All I know is that 90% of Republicans still approve of Trump, 90%!! Democrats have got to try something fundamentally different.
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