I still can’t fully put my finger on why I sort of like Donald Trump.🙄 He says such vulgar, awful things. Bar maybe his opposition to new wilderness areas and gun control, I can’t figure out on much that we would agree with. I certainly disagree with him on international trade, international relations, climate change, or energy policy more generally. Trump doesn’t seem to have many good policy ideas.
That said, Donald Trump taps in my anger, and that of many Americans about the dysfunction in Washington DC, and the elitism of the establishment which seems to always know what’s right and proper without actually understanding the issue at hand. It’s great the technocrats seem to know what always is right, but there should be somebody in government challenging them and questioning what is right for our country.
Astroturfingis the practice of masking thesponsorsof a message or organization (e.g., political, advertising, religious orpublic relations) to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported bygrassrootsparticipants. It is a practice intended to give the statements or organizations credibility by withholding information about the source’s financial connection. The termastroturfingis derived fromAstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to resemble natural grass, as a play on the word “grassroots”. The implication behind the use of the term is that instead of a “true” or “natural” grassroots effort behind the activity in question, there is a “fake” or “artificial” appearance of support.
It seems like the astroturf narrative plays well into the ideological left that believes that any group that disagrees with its ideology must either be fake or brainwashed.
But obviously that isn’t the case all of the time. A lot of people have diverse opinions and different ways to look at issues as they come from different backgrounds.
Groups both on the left and right both seek funding from foundations and special interests. Getting a message out and organizing large groups of people is very expensive. It takes money to get protest permits, to transport people on buses to the protest site, feed volunteers and make their time feel valuable.
Mass movements often require an elaborate press operation, to help them get their message out. Sure, a grassroots movement can have volunteers doing press calls and even designing social media graphics for sharing but it’s often better to have professionals handling press who know how to reach out to press and make a story newsworthy.
I don’t think it’s necessarily bad that grassroots groups lean on big money to get their message out but I do think it’s important to listen to all sides of the debate and recognize that monied interests might have certain preferences that the grassroots backing them might not fully agree with.
Money in politics is like an amplifier on a stereo system. It doesn’t change the music but it can make it louder and distort the sound. But like an amplifier, money doesn’t mean much in politics if there isn’t popular support behind the message.
Most of the time when I hear the accusations of astroturf, I think people are jt trying to silence a message they disagree with.
It’s rained the past three years on Labor Day Weekend. While no single storm can be linked directly to election of President Trump, the trend of rainy weather on Labor Day correlates closely with his election.
Similar to what we saw in 2016, the media is completely missing the fact that President Donald Trump may very well be re-elected in 2020:
Incumbents often are re-elected because they are proven winners and known quantities to voters
Don’t discount the ability of the Federal Reserve and the president to keep the economy healthy through the end of 2020 by manipulating the money supply and tarrifs
Liberals think they are winning on the gun issue but they are also activating gun owners – both suburban men and rural folk to get out and vote too
America while becoming more diverse isn’t necessarily becoming more liberal. Many Hispanics are quite conservative on abortion, and even guns for the more rural and agriculture connected ones
Suburban communities often have a socially conservative undertone that’s being ignored by liberals – and not just taxes or race. A lot of suburbanites have hunting camps
A lot of white liberals are not doing a good job at connecting with African American communities. Saying your for more funding for historically black colleges isn’t necessarily going to engage minorities.
Race and dog whistles still work with many whites who fear losing what they’ve worked hard to earn
The electoral college and US Senate bias towards the conservative leaning small and modest size cities in less populated states like Montana, North Dakota and Iowa. Even if a lot of the vote comes from the city, they are in a more conservative culture.
Politicians, many of them who are conservative, draw house districts, set the time and manor for voting, set voter identification requirements
Lastly, the liberal narrative we hear in New York and California may sound very different in Texas or the Mid West.
