Resistance thoughts

[gfish]

I think the resistance (whatever that means) is overlooking a potentially devastating weapon: Trump's insecurities. His pathological need for approval obviously overrides any moral, political or intellectual core he might have. Why aren't we trying to take advantage of this?

(Because he's loathsome, that's why. But that just means only equally loathsome people are left to stoke his ego, resulting in loathsome policies.)

I 100% believe that if Trump thought the majority of the country wanted him to do something (say, push for single payer), he would do it. He wouldn't consider the cost to his party, or the practical considerations. Particularly if he saw it as one-upping Obama. He just needs to hear "people will love you if you can do this thing Obama couldn't manage".

So: How do we get a message like that to him?

Comments

[maribou]

My (first-hand, very personal) experience of people who are like Trump is that seeming like you could manipulate them easily is just part of the dark web of ugly charisma they weave.

You might win a battle but you'd somehow end up losing the war *because* you won the battle. In this case, you'd, say, end up getting single-payer but not managing to avoid the complete fascist takeover of day-to-day life in every regard.

Better to shun and to work really really hard on Trump supporters' Overton windows to get them to come over to the shunning side too.

[tylik]

A fair bit has been written on this, specific to Trump.

[sistawendy]

Well spake.

[gfish]

Oh, I'm not suggesting this with the thought we'd get single payer, just that we could goad Trump into working against his party.

But that's a really good point to keep in mind.