Donald Trump won a slew of counties Barack Obama won before him.
The New Hampshire House of Representatives, the New Hampshire Senate, the Executive Council all changed from Blue to Red in the 2020 election which sent a Democrat back to the US Senate for a state with a gay US Congressman, a woman Congresswoman and another female US Senator.
Somehow, there are folks out there who seem to not be reading the textbook, not just in New Hampshire, but across the nation.
I would submit that people out there, voters, are not simply swallowing the advertising thrown at them, but somehow digesting and metabolizing it.
Last night, at a meeting of the Hampton Democrats Communication Committee, the leader of an effort to send the Democratic message out to "social media" presented the results of her efforts and they were impressive: People, apparently, are seeing our advertisements; some are actually pausing to watch them, and some may even agree with them.
This very professional Democrat has brought a level of sophistication to the Hampton Democrats which was sorely needed.
Before she arrived, Democrats had pounded on the doors of their neighbors. This method, "canvassing" is very labor intensive but also very operator dependent. I sallied out with a variety of local DEMS, but only one was ever any good at it. This classy lady knocked confidently on the door and when the homeowner appeared, within seconds she had established some sort of kinship, kids who were in the same class at Winnacunnet High, or someone's sister's cousin who use to go skiing together. Having established that we were not simply annoying people trying to sell stuff but rather almost kin, she dazzled them with a beatific smile and glittering blue eyes that riveted every male and melted the heart of every mother, and we were home free.
But she was the exception, the canvasser who was so expert she could make a heavy lift look easy.
The advantage of the ad sent to Facebook is that the person delivering the message did not need to be exceptional; she simply needs to hit a button. It was the impersonal versus the personal. It was the difference between the bombardier in the B29 over Cologne and the infantry soldier slogging through the mud on the ground below: The Facebook ads reign down and we hope it hits its target audience, but we know many bombs, if not most, will fall without effect; the canvasser, like the rifleman, hits her target, but she has to hump miles across hill and dale to get into position to deliver that hit.
At the committee dissent arose because someone suggested the message might be delivered, but how it is received is unknown, or once absorbed how long it may last before some MAGA message displaces it.
And what is our message, anyway?
What SHOULD it be?
This is not the role of the committee. The committee formulated a plan, raised money to execute it and did so with spectacular efficiency, complete with spreadsheets.
The committee delivered a message, but who conceived the message?
Well, that message is the Democratic Platform, made real and alive through Facebook ads.
The gospel, the "party line" downloadable from the NH Democratic Party website, says:
"We believe it is the role of government to provide an adequate safety net to protect individuals in times of economic distress."
I know how folks--folks who sit in my office every day-- hear this: "They want to tax me and pay my neighbor to sit on his duff while I work. That's socialism!"
"We believe in a government that promotes business development statewide by ensuring the availability of a well educated, well trained and well compensated workforce with competitive wages and benefits and the skills needed to compete in a globalized economy."
And people I know hear this as "They want to move me out of my trailer park and burn it down and replace it with McMansions for college boys with computers who cannot do their own HVAC, electrician stuff or plumbing."
"We believe all students should be able to attend college or career training without the burden of excessive debt...by responsibly funding our public community colleges and universities...critical to this mission."
Translation for the swing people: "Career training doesn't include electrician, plumber or HVAC guy. This is all about replacing guys like me with college educated trust fund babies who want a free ride."
"We believe in gender equality and cultural sensitivity for individuals who are transgender, non binary, or from racially underserved communities and that this sensitivity should inform health care delivery and access."
Translation for the erstwhile Obama voter now Trump voter: "I've never met a transgender person, but I've heard I have to refer to someone with a vagina as "he" or "they" and I'm too old to learn how to speak gender equality speak where 'They went to town to get their nails done,' refers to a person who was born with a penis but now wants to use the girls' locker room. And that creeps me out!
NB: This last translation is not an endorsement of this way of thinking, simply a recognition that most folks do not know much about "gender dysphoria" or sexual differentiation and they are bewildered and repulsed by the minimal images they've seen on Tucker Carlson and FOX News. And Jim Jordan and Tucker Carlson are beating the brains out of Democrats with this transgender fear and loathing. "Freakshow!" is the operating phrase on Twitter and on Fox.
I'm not saying Democrats should fail to defend transgenders or any other persecuted group, or that they should abandon the idea that all people have equal rights and deserve respect, but we have to see what the opposition will do with this.
"We support our law enforcement, fire fighters and EMS personnel who keep our citizens safe."
Translation in Coos County: "Sure! You wanted to DEFUND POLICE! But now you realize when the active shooter arrives, you need their help. You care more about Black Lives Matter than protecting the guy in the garage, the gas station, the 7/11 who gets held up at gunpoint."
"We support all people regardless of race, religious beliefs, disability, immigration status, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression (LGBTQ+).
Translation:
"Wait! What? First of all, I have no idea what LGBTQ+ even means. I mean, I get lesbian, gay (what's the difference?), bisexual and transgender (sort of.) But What is this Q? Queer? How's that different from Gay? And what's with the +? I don't even understand what language you're speaking. And does that mean you are going to use my tax dollars to pay for In Vitro Fertilization (at $10,000 a shot) so the lesbian partner to a trans woman (that is a guy with a penis on estrogen) can get pregnant. And what kind of sex do these two have, anyway? I mean, it's like you're speaking in code and I'm not voting for you!
And why should I have to learn to translate this sentence? 'Pat went to the market to buy themselves a razor because their estrogen therapy got denied by the insurance company again and they are now growing a beard.'
I mean, what's that all about?"
Why should I have to learn new pronouns for fear of violating the sensitivity of a small minority, however beleaguered that minority may be?
Now, you may say this knuckle-dragger is irredeemable and he'll never vote Blue anyway, but this guy voted for Obama TWICE!
As Ezra Klein noted in his NYT piece, you have to realize, if you are a Democrat, that folks you'd like to vote for you are not woke, are not even going to agree with you on some pretty important issues, like treating everyone with respect, even if they look strange to you.
But you can find some areas of common belief, AS OBAMA DID.
"We worship an awesome God in the Blue states."
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