To defeat Trump, the left must learn from him [View all]

Interesting article. We indeed do need to do a better job of communicating to voters, but we also need a clear, simple message that resonates with voters by connecting to their lives. As this writer notes, pro-democracy forces need to “Take off the gloves. Show your teeth, take no prisoners.” Too much of our current leadership seem to be stuck back in the decade when Obama won. We’re a different country now.

“We can learn from Trump the importance of telling a simple, understandable story and sticking to it. Pro-democracy forces need to pick a message and repeat it again and again to drive it home. There is surely no one in America who has not heard the phrase Make America Great Again and does not associate Maga with Trump. We can learn to appeal to national pride and drive home that national greatness requires addressing the daily experiences of ordinary Americans in language of the kind they use.

Snip

We can learn from the president that political success requires building a movement and not being trapped by the norms and conventions of existing political organizations. Remember Trump has gotten to where he is not by being an acolyte of Republican orthodoxy but by being a heretic.

In the age of loneliness, pro-democracy forces need to give people the sense that they are caught up in a great cause.

We can learn from the president that if the pro-democracy movement is to succeed, it needs to offer its own version of constitutional reform. Stop talking about preserving the system and start talking about changing it in ways that will make government responsive and connect it to the lives that people live.“

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/20/to-defeat-trump-the-left-must-learn-from-him