Invisible Man
Member
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2019
- Messages
- 4,611
For the sake of supporting Massie, I'm going to step back into a mode I haven't been in for a really long time of thinking about helping someone win an election.
The reason for this post is that a lot of the pro-Massie posts I've been seeing on social media have a tone to them that I think is liable to turn off a lot of Republican primary voters.
If you really want Massie to win this primary race (and if you don't care about that, this post isn't for you), then you have to think pragmatically, and you have to accept that he needs support from Republican voters outside of his core libertarian constituency.
What are some examples of things that I think could hurt him more than they help him, when put out there in front of average Republican primary voters?
1. Framing it as Massie versus Trump. Yes, it's true that it really is Massie versus Trump. But Trump still has enormous support among Republican voters. And even though Trump has decided to treat Massie as an enemy, Massie embodies what most Trump supporters think they like about Trump. Instead of making those people think Massie is fighting against them, appeal to them with ways to show that he's really fighting for them, and not against Trump in particular, but against the swamp, the Democrats, the establishment, the deep state, and bloated government. Massie is the DOGE candidate. He is on opposite sides of those who oppose the government reduction that DOGE tried to implement. When it's put like this, criticisms of Trump can be brought into the discussion to point out ways that Trump has abandoned ideas he campaigned on. But don't make it look like knocking Trump down is the object, so much as out-Trumping Trump.
2. Making Massie out to be an enemy of Israel and Jewish people. Think back to the way Ron Paul handled this in his campaigns. He talked about how American intervention sometimes got in Israel's way. Advocate noninterventionism and America First. When Israel comes up, talk about how Israelis themselves aren't united on how to address the Palestinian conflict. This can also be framed in a way that shows that Netanyahu has been bad for Israel. To stop giving Netanyahu and his crowd unwavering support is not anti-Israel, but pro-freedom for both Israelis and Palestinians.
When it comes to in-house discussions, there's more room for bluntness and hot takes. But when you're trying to win people over and expand Massie's support among the people who aren't already automatically going to support him, just be careful how you do it.
The reason for this post is that a lot of the pro-Massie posts I've been seeing on social media have a tone to them that I think is liable to turn off a lot of Republican primary voters.
If you really want Massie to win this primary race (and if you don't care about that, this post isn't for you), then you have to think pragmatically, and you have to accept that he needs support from Republican voters outside of his core libertarian constituency.
What are some examples of things that I think could hurt him more than they help him, when put out there in front of average Republican primary voters?
1. Framing it as Massie versus Trump. Yes, it's true that it really is Massie versus Trump. But Trump still has enormous support among Republican voters. And even though Trump has decided to treat Massie as an enemy, Massie embodies what most Trump supporters think they like about Trump. Instead of making those people think Massie is fighting against them, appeal to them with ways to show that he's really fighting for them, and not against Trump in particular, but against the swamp, the Democrats, the establishment, the deep state, and bloated government. Massie is the DOGE candidate. He is on opposite sides of those who oppose the government reduction that DOGE tried to implement. When it's put like this, criticisms of Trump can be brought into the discussion to point out ways that Trump has abandoned ideas he campaigned on. But don't make it look like knocking Trump down is the object, so much as out-Trumping Trump.
2. Making Massie out to be an enemy of Israel and Jewish people. Think back to the way Ron Paul handled this in his campaigns. He talked about how American intervention sometimes got in Israel's way. Advocate noninterventionism and America First. When Israel comes up, talk about how Israelis themselves aren't united on how to address the Palestinian conflict. This can also be framed in a way that shows that Netanyahu has been bad for Israel. To stop giving Netanyahu and his crowd unwavering support is not anti-Israel, but pro-freedom for both Israelis and Palestinians.
When it comes to in-house discussions, there's more room for bluntness and hot takes. But when you're trying to win people over and expand Massie's support among the people who aren't already automatically going to support him, just be careful how you do it.
