Elections are about perceptions
“Part of the psychology of the American voter is that they want, while there’s a dog fight going on, to see how much fight is in the dog,” says former Republican campaign adviser Rick Wilson.
I saw that Politico article quoting anonymous Democratic “operatives” and “advisors” in “full-blown freakout” over Joe Biden and groaned. Just groaned. What were they thinking? Not Politico, the unnamed Democratic sources.
How many times have I cited … well, how many times did Sylvester Stallone redeploy his successful formula for Rocky? Six times, just in the original franchise. Repetition is important.
I’ve noted before: How many Rocky movies did Stallone make? And they’re all the same movie. So why do people keep going? Because so many Americans themselves feel like underdogs. We want to root for the little guy with heart. Facing insurmountable odds. Risking it all. We want to feel the thrill up our spines and in the tops of our heads when Bill Conti’s trumpet fanfare introduces the training sequence. We want to hear that. Wait for it. Cheer for it. Pay for it. Over and over and over.
My college roommate started eating raw eggs before going for his morning runs, fergawdsakes.
Hand-wringers need not apply
My friend Anat Shenker-Osorio gave a workshop for Democrats over the weekend in Greensboro. Among other things she told us, Americans share a basic desire for safety.
I do. Who would you rather have watching your back, lackadaisical voter? Dick Durbin or Rocky Balboa? Hell, MAGA grafts Trump’s head onto Rocky’s body. No, don’t start doing that with Biden, but….
“You better start thinking of Joe Biden as 12 ft. tall, covered in steel, brilliant, with a 12-inch dick. Stop acting like he’s a feeble old man,” Wilson shouts at Democrats. “Toughen the fuck up!”
The Amplify project (one of Anat’s collaborative efforts) is already promoting that message with a set of free-to-share, open-source videos tested “to break through the noise and mobilize voters in our base to repeat our persuasive message.”
“The left is losing the fight against fascism politically,” Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel) fumed last week. “That’s not [Merrick] Garland’s fight. It’s yours.”
Defeating fascism is not someone else’s job. Sadly, many among the Democrats’ gerontocracy are not up to that job. But if you’re cocky enough to think you are, then you need to get into the fight.
“The Republican Party says the criminals are the heroes,” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said Monday night. Or is it you?
Cue “Gonna Fly Now.”
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