Broad-Front Political Messaging in the Age of Trump: Kilmar Abrego Garcia & Such
Out of my lane, but Trump’s extrajudicial cruelty is not a footnote—it needs to be on the front page. The casual and cruel attempt to destroy Garcia’s life matches the casual destruction of America’s prosperity, depending as it does on the world trade network, and the casual degradation of America’s national security. Political messaging today works best when it is bold, true, and unafraid of its own values. And if that doesn’t work best, we need to learn that very quickly. Hence we need to try…
G. Elliott Morris: Should Democrats focus on immigration or the economy? <https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/should-democrats-focus-on-immigration>: ‘It is possible for parties to walk and chew gum at the same time: I have seen political analysts suggest or imply a few times now that Democrats should not be trying to fight Republicans on immigration in general, and advocate for Kilmar Abrego Garcia in particular, because the rough GOP stance on deportations is popular…. I guess the logic for these arguments is straightforward enough: The current state of the economy is a 20-ton anchor tied around Trump’s neck, while his approval on immigration is net positive. Pick your battles…. However, the people advancing this argument are making at least five mistakes: 1. Overall issue popularity is not… particulars…. 2. The case implicitly assumes a party can’t do 2+ things at once…. 3. Opinion changes with new information and arguments…. 4. Problems can be tied together with broader themes…. 5. Politics is about values…
My overwhelming and instinctive reaction is this: THE CLAIM THAT BAD GUYS DO NOT DESERVE DUE PROCESS IS A CLAIM THAT NOBODY DESERVES DUE PROCESS UNLESS YOU THINK TRUMP ALWAYS TELLS THE TRUTH; AND NOBODY THINKS THAT TRUMP ALWAYS TELLS THE TRUTH. Moreover, if it is indeed the case that a majority of Americans do not care about their own due process, we had better find that out as quickly as possible, because then we are in much worse trouble than we knew. If teaching people about Trump’s kidnapping of Kilmer Abrego Garcia and subsequent lying about who he is is not a winning issue that moves minds, we need to know that now.
But, it turns out, it is a winning issue. It does move minds:
Take a moment to really process…. On the issue voters elected him to tackle, Trump has overstepped so severely/executed so poorly that the average voter now disapproves, by 5 points, of his performance…. it was, frankly, easy to see coming if you looked at opinions on immigration even a little beyond the surface…. In fact, at this point, returning Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. would rank as one of the most popular policies in America. Overall immigration approval be damned…
Now I am not an expert on effective messaging in today’s public sphere. I do not pretend to be a Svengali of the social semiotic in our modern media age.
But, then, nobody is. That is, perhaps, my central point.
