If Democrats Want to Challenge Trump, They Need a New Strategy

Harvard Business Review ^ | February 23, 2017 | Gautam Mukunda

[WonkyTonky]

Understanding Trump’s Pillars of Support

The loyalty Trump has earned from some of his supporters may be virtually unbreakable, resulting from appeals that Democrats cannot and should not seek to match. But to win in the 2018 midterms and the 2020 presidential election, the opposition does not need to convince everyone who voted for Trump. It does not even need to convince most of them. Democrats just need to peel away Trump’s marginal voters without losing the support of the majority of Americans who voted for other candidates. To do so, they need to understand the four reasons those marginal voters supported Trump: heightened partisanship (which led Trump to receive the support of 89% of registered Republicans); hostility to the Washington establishment; Trump’s rhetorical abandonment of the normal tropes of Republican politics; and his image as a successful businessman. The first two of these are probably nonstarters for Democrats, but the third and fourth represent vulnerabilities they could exploit.

[WonkyTonky]

Here is what could be the Democrats game plan for 2018 & 2020 to go after Trump

[EinNYC]

So THIS is what Harvard uses its time to do-—plan sedition. I hope their alumni donations zero out. They are nothing more than hoity toity scum.

[Professional]

The trouble with Democrats;

They aren’t appealing enough to crackheads

Not energizing the Black Lives Matter enough

Unable to rally the fanatical support of Muslims to a frenzy of marching in the streets

Stymied by the transgendered crowd that is into colorful sexual outfits suitable for parade

Not getting enough traction with the black hooded atheist fascist/antifa hoodlums of uppity suburban neighborhoods

Lacking the adoration of transgendered NFL/NBA athletes seeking an escape from stereotypical bathroom facilities

[bigbob]

Typical of HBR, pretty good analysis. But I don’t look for the Democrats to be smart and analytical about it.

I think there will be a war of desperation between the traditional factions (Fauxohauntas, Booker, Gillbrand, maybe even a flyer like Al Franken) and some new entrants like a Jeff Zuckerburg, Oprah, or Mark Cuban who will be recruited to do what Trump did for the R party. And Bernie isn’t going away, not by a long shot.

So - rather than a business school strategic approch I predict: chaos. Especially after they take another haircut in the 2018 mid-terms.

[GOPJ]

Democrats have nothing to offer...

[McCarthysGhost]

The article was naive in my judgement. If Trump grows the economy and creates good jobs and gives middle class tax cuts, Trump is likely to win. Simple as that. You can throw this stupid formula to defeat Trump out the window.

[WonkyTonky]

I agree, if President Trump can turn around the economy and give us the tax cuts he promised and either fix or repeal Obamacare he will be re-elected, no problem.

[catnipman]

Reasonable analysis by HBR; fortunately, the Dem voters are so mindlessly crazed that they won’t allow their leadership to behave reasonably, but instead they will force the Dems to double-down on ALL the things that caused them to lose in the 2016.

it’s an interesting contrast with the way we conservatives wandered in the wilderness every since Ronald Reagan left office. Recognizing our weak position, we did not riot and burn, but we have bided our time, educated ourselves, and slowly marshaled our forces until the time was right, which as it has turned out was when a singularly unique and fearless leader arose to give voice to our legions and lead us from the wilderness.

I do not see that ANY of those things will happen for the left, mostly because they make those things impossible to happen for themselves.

[McCarthysGhost]

Yep. Amazing what passes for scholarly activity these days.

[Piranha]

Don’t pat us on the back too hard. I don’t think that President Trump, or candidate Trump, was a historical inevitability. He was a real dues ex machine who, I believe, will save the country. There was no Donald Trump Lite behind him. If not for President Trump we would continue plummeting in the wrong direction.

[PGalt]

Couple the article with this ‘rat whistle from FFP in mid-January...

https://www.thenation.com/article/throw-sand-in-the-gears-of-everything/

[Gene Eric]

The Democrat Thug Party will best serve the Country by digging itself a deeper ditch.

[Liz]

During the Obama years, the Democrats lost a net 13 Senate seats, 63 House seats, nine governorships and more than 1,000 state and local elected positions.

It's time to start winning but Democrats think they can win just by stressing their deep goodness over Trump's evil.

Democrats just aren't making the effort to appeal to their natural fun-loving base: like crackheads, the endearing Black Lives Matter and Burqua-wearing sophisticates.

-----------------------------------------------

Clueless Democrats need to figure out:

<><> why they are unable to rally the fanatical support of Muslims to a frenzy of marching in the streets?

<><> why are they stymied by the transgendered crowd that is into colorful sexual outfits suitable for parade?

<><> why no traction with black-hooded atheist fascist/antifa hoodlums of uppity suburban neighborhoods?

<><> why are they lacking the adoration of transgendered NFL/NBA athletes seeking an escape from stereotypical bathroom facilities? (hat tip professional

[trebb]

They aren’t that bright - our loyalty to Trump is bolstered by our ever more intimate knowledge of the enemy of the Left.

[TADSLOS]

Libs went all in with Obama holding weak cards. Now, they want to turn the table over- literally. Bad losers. They are out of ideas and out of luck due to their own terrible actions against America. They need to be kicked and kicked hard at every opportunity.

Suck it, Libs!

[Liz]

Amen. Just look at the numbers.

HAT TIP VENDOME---23 Dems, 2 indies and 8 Republican seats are up in 2018. The math is improbable, as in not even possible for Dems to make a gain. At least 10 of those seats are very much in jeopardy. They are going to lose bigly and then the census favors the Republicans in 2020.

Trump for 8 years and with a Republican majority...then Pence for eight years. If you force the nuclear option just once, that becomes the standard for the next 8 years. We will get 4 more bites of the apple on SCOTUS, ensuring wins on almost any issue for the next 16 years of elections and 100 years in the courts. .

hat tip Travis McGee

Democraps are disappearing off the map as we type.

[catnipman]

“singularly unique”