Social media went crazy. President Trump was caught on Memorial Day weekend playing golf. And not wearing a mask!
GASP!
So what? Really, folks. So what?
Lots of men and women played golf on Memorial Day weekend. And guess what? Very few wore a mask.
As the sins of this president compound, what’s the big deal about this particular minor indiscretion?
And what is the value of the posting? I guess it depends on what your goal is.
If it’s just to spout off for the millionth time about the man you hate, you’ve accomplished your mission and supplied pleasant fodder for your like-minded friends.
But if your goal is to defeat Trump in November, then the posting represents wasted energy and conceivably could be counterproductive.
By now everyone knows what a poorly informed, ego-maniacal, immoral man Trump is. Or if someone doesn’t, he or she is blind to the obvious.
Social media postings like that of the golf cart are not going to change views. More thoughtful postings dealing with issues, however, just might. It’s conceivable a small percentage of the population (all we need) who are thinkers might be persuaded to vote for Biden. And I don’t want to hear that, if they truly are thinkers, they couldn’t possibly be for Trump. Whether right or wrong, that belief will sway not a single vote and there are people out there who could be convinced.
If we really want to win in November, we’ve got to be smart, something that seems all too rare in Democratic circles. As a start, reduce the postings illustrating how stupid our president is, how awful his daily tweets are, how terrible he looks. They’re not going to change anyone’s mind and too much of that could push people to vote for him because they are sick of hearing such trivia. People are funny that way. And his loyal fans? You are begging them to react and, even worse, motivating them to come out on election day.
If we want to win, we have to have issues and plans that are more than “Defeat Trump.” Sure, if that’s a person’s only issue, good enough. But that isn’t sufficient for many. Or even close. At the very least we must nourish certain groups, whether we want to or not.
First and the most obvious of these are the strong constituencies who have provided major Democratic support in election after election. Unfortunately, the party has taken them for granted and therefore not provided the necessary respect and concern. After all, won’t they always be with us? Bad thinking. Instead we should make every effort to let them know how important they are, that we value their input and understand and care about their concerns.
Second, the Democrats have many voting children. And I don’t mean 18-year-olds. I mean those whose candidate did not survive the primary process, so they will withhold support from the winner. This thinking is so crazy in so many ways, but it is going on. We must convince these voters to support the Democratic ticket, because otherwise the causes so dear to them will be set back for years or decades. The stupidity of their position makes me mad. Nevertheless, they must be treated with respect no matter how childish their thinking. Biden can help by acting decisively to secure their help, perhaps by demonstrating how their heroes will play a role in his administration.
Third, we’ve got to try to convince Republicans to ditch their president. Believe it or not there are many decent ones out there repulsed by the antics of Trump. Perhaps we can sway them to at least withhold their vote from Trump (a net of one vote for Biden) or even, gasp, vote for the Democratic nominee (a gain of two votes). No matter what, we should not make the automatic assumption that, because they are Republican, they are unworthy to receive our attention.
In fact, as a general rule guiding all our activities, we’ve got to stress the desire to unify the country with acceptance of the worth of those with whom we disagree.
It’s going to take a great deal of thought and planning to accomplish all this, and a willingness by Biden and the party to go outside the box of normal political conniving. I hope they’re up to it. In fact, we all have a role to play.
Even if it’s just not to waste our and others’ time posting pictures of Trump riding around in a golf cart.
*****
If you would like to get an email notification when a new posting occurs, contact me at [email protected] or use the Leave Feedback heading at the top of the blog screen.
GASP!
So what? Really, folks. So what?
Lots of men and women played golf on Memorial Day weekend. And guess what? Very few wore a mask.
As the sins of this president compound, what’s the big deal about this particular minor indiscretion?
And what is the value of the posting? I guess it depends on what your goal is.
If it’s just to spout off for the millionth time about the man you hate, you’ve accomplished your mission and supplied pleasant fodder for your like-minded friends.
But if your goal is to defeat Trump in November, then the posting represents wasted energy and conceivably could be counterproductive.
By now everyone knows what a poorly informed, ego-maniacal, immoral man Trump is. Or if someone doesn’t, he or she is blind to the obvious.
Social media postings like that of the golf cart are not going to change views. More thoughtful postings dealing with issues, however, just might. It’s conceivable a small percentage of the population (all we need) who are thinkers might be persuaded to vote for Biden. And I don’t want to hear that, if they truly are thinkers, they couldn’t possibly be for Trump. Whether right or wrong, that belief will sway not a single vote and there are people out there who could be convinced.
If we really want to win in November, we’ve got to be smart, something that seems all too rare in Democratic circles. As a start, reduce the postings illustrating how stupid our president is, how awful his daily tweets are, how terrible he looks. They’re not going to change anyone’s mind and too much of that could push people to vote for him because they are sick of hearing such trivia. People are funny that way. And his loyal fans? You are begging them to react and, even worse, motivating them to come out on election day.
If we want to win, we have to have issues and plans that are more than “Defeat Trump.” Sure, if that’s a person’s only issue, good enough. But that isn’t sufficient for many. Or even close. At the very least we must nourish certain groups, whether we want to or not.
First and the most obvious of these are the strong constituencies who have provided major Democratic support in election after election. Unfortunately, the party has taken them for granted and therefore not provided the necessary respect and concern. After all, won’t they always be with us? Bad thinking. Instead we should make every effort to let them know how important they are, that we value their input and understand and care about their concerns.
Second, the Democrats have many voting children. And I don’t mean 18-year-olds. I mean those whose candidate did not survive the primary process, so they will withhold support from the winner. This thinking is so crazy in so many ways, but it is going on. We must convince these voters to support the Democratic ticket, because otherwise the causes so dear to them will be set back for years or decades. The stupidity of their position makes me mad. Nevertheless, they must be treated with respect no matter how childish their thinking. Biden can help by acting decisively to secure their help, perhaps by demonstrating how their heroes will play a role in his administration.
Third, we’ve got to try to convince Republicans to ditch their president. Believe it or not there are many decent ones out there repulsed by the antics of Trump. Perhaps we can sway them to at least withhold their vote from Trump (a net of one vote for Biden) or even, gasp, vote for the Democratic nominee (a gain of two votes). No matter what, we should not make the automatic assumption that, because they are Republican, they are unworthy to receive our attention.
In fact, as a general rule guiding all our activities, we’ve got to stress the desire to unify the country with acceptance of the worth of those with whom we disagree.
It’s going to take a great deal of thought and planning to accomplish all this, and a willingness by Biden and the party to go outside the box of normal political conniving. I hope they’re up to it. In fact, we all have a role to play.
Even if it’s just not to waste our and others’ time posting pictures of Trump riding around in a golf cart.
*****
If you would like to get an email notification when a new posting occurs, contact me at [email protected] or use the Leave Feedback heading at the top of the blog screen.
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