You can detect a certain pattern in the US civil discourse: a reaction is always faulted more than the action itself.
A black man gets shot? The protesters get the blame.
Kids in school get shot? Their parents receive death threats.
A woman gets raped? Why destroy a promising young fella future in the aftermath.
Trump said this or that? But Hillary called people deplorable!
Notice a big pattern here: We don’t like victims and we don’t like their reaction to the injustice.
I sense a big PR opportunity for the beleaguered left.
When was the last time you saw an anti-abortion ad? I see one on the billboard along the NJ Turnpike all the time. Now think of the last time you saw a progressive social ad? In my 20 years in the US I never saw one. This is a major tactical oversight of the left. The left is very good at writing articles and arguing on TV, but their efforts are non-existent in the areas and in the format that regular people access every day. Where are all the ‘Overthrow you corporate overlords’ billboards along the highway?
Anyway, this is not a minor shortcoming. The right has perfected this game, and it is not much different from their usual MO: attract the gullible with one message and sell them something else. Good example of such con is pseudo abortion clinics that they call ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ which are actually anti-abortion establishments masquerading as help centers. But a lot of desperate poor women end up there. The bullshit works! Why shouldn’t we employ the same approach? Except we won’t be even selling bullshit.
To keep rust belt workers attention on Trump and GOP can be achieved by placing a few ‘where are the jobs?’ billboards strategically along a highway with a (left-wing) website at the bottom. Those websites should look like a garden variety right-wing site: a flag, an eagle, a Declaration of Independence, etc. Then welcome them with a message that America is not what it used to be anymore. And it’s not like the message doesn’t hold up to reality. Then, praise the time when the unions were strong. Then ponder about what happened to them. Then link the declining wages to the decline of unions. I’m just throwing ideas out there but you get my drift. It doesn’t have to be an explicit socialist message. Then they look around and see Trump’s administration filled with cronies. I mean Trump is doing all the work for us already.
Hell, it doesn’t even have to be a website. It’s all about the visuals. Lack of a link would actually compel people to look it up.
You consider yourself a patriot? Great. We have something for you too. Have an ad designed like Soviet poster art from the 20s: A worker with a hammer and a fat guy in a tux and a top hat and a sack with $$ on it. Place it on a public bus in a Midwestern city, or, hell, Texas, just for shits and giggles. I mean this is a compelling visual that will reach people on a visceral level. I dare Fox News to mock it as Soviet propaganda. It’s gonna totally blow in their face if they’re too loud about it. First, they’re friends with Russia now, second by talking about it they would have show the image, which will draw even more attention. Third, the left will have a ready compelling rebuttal: ‘what, are you saying you’re against the working class?’ And finally, it’s not the 80s anymore, you can’t scare anyone with the word ‘socialism’ anymore.
Or better yet: the ubiquitous ‘Jesus loves you’ poster. Put it out there, but link it to Pope Francis-style message of compassion for the weak, instead of some TV huckster asking for money. That’s gonna be refreshing.
Another idea: treat expansion and preservation of voting rights as the left’s equivalent of NRA. VRA is the new NRA. Be as vocal about it as possible. Again, the advantage here is totally on our side.
It’s not about collecting money, not about building customer base, not about clicks or likes. It’s about spreading the message, or ‘sowing doubt’ to use the well-known tactic of tobacco companies and climate deniers. Let’s feed them their own shit.
All of it might sound absurd, but everything Trump did was absurd. You can’t fight absurd with another Paul Krugman article. It’s time for us to do some crazy shit.
So our goal in the next few years is to offer an action, in a sense a giant trolling exercise, to which the right will be forced to react. When I say action, I don’t mean protests and demonstrations – quite the opposite. Protests are a reaction and are bound to draw ridicule and dismissal. What I mean is the methodical deployment of the 1st amendment that will withstand any challenge in courts. Just like what they do with the 2nd amendment. No amount of civic deaths will do anything to the power of NRA. In the same sense, no amount of outrage on the right to our ‘sickle and hammer’ billboards in public places will be able to do anything, other than make them look like fools. I have to stress: not articles, not graphs and charts, not academic papers, not talking heads analysis. I mean visual displays in public places. And they will overreact, they will be foaming at the mouth. The right made us react to their juvenile behavior for decades. Now let’s make them react.
Left with Balls 
Yep, I’m with you. The left, as well as the center, are marketing wussies.
Contemplative rationality no longer wins hearts and minds, or votes. That’s a long game that has been overshadowed by successive “Shoot first, grab the headlines, and evade when caught.” campaigns. Within one or two news cycles they’ve tarred and feathered their “enemy”, ran them out of town, and changed the entire conversation.
This tactic is very successful. By the time the truth comes out an impression has been made and it’s too late…rinse, wash, and repeat.
I like some of your ideas. Funding them would require buy-in from an independent, either a local organization or a national grassroots one. The national orgs seem confused and in a panic, or worse, going back to their same losing playbook.
Yes, the front for those public announcement has to come from some LLC, not affiliated with anyone. So that elected Dems like Schumer could go on TV and, when asked about it, give the standard GOP shrug of the shoulders: “don’t know what you’re talking about.”