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With the 2020 election rapidly approaching, Democrats can’t seem to get on board with a clear and concise strategy on how to defeat President Donald Trump. It’s not like he doesn’t give the other side of the aisle plenty of ammo — like, literally, on a daily basis — but instead the current roster of *counts fingers* 24 Dem candidates are too busy quibbling among themselves and splitting hairs over policy.
Enter writer and liberal activist Tim Wise. Wise was instrumental in thwarting the campaigns of white supremacist David Duke, who ran for the Louisiana Senate in 1990, and then for Governor in 1991. Most people don’t remember how close the United States came to having a literal Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard as an elected government official, however, Wise points out that this now serves as a cautionary tale.
Because, as Wise explained over the weekend in a 34-part tweet, the goal should not be about swaying ardent Trump supporters with policy — but alerting everyone else to the clear and present danger at hand.
“If the Dems blow this election it will not be because they were ‘too far left on policy’ or because they ‘weren’t left enough,'” Wise wrote on Sunday morning. “It will have little to do with policy at all. They are making a mistake caused by traditional consultant theory that does not apply here…”
1/ If the Dems blow this election it will not be because they were "too far left on policy" or because they "weren't left enough." It will have little to do with policy at all. They are making a mistake caused by traditional consultant theory that does not apply here…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
He went on to advise Democrats to ditch the policy talking points, while relaying his experience in the fight against Duke in the ’90s.
3/ And the reasons are several…Let me begin by saying that I have experience confronting the kind of phenomenon we see in Trumpism, and far more than most. Any of us who were involved in the fight against David Duke in LA in 90/91 know what this is and how it must be fought…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
5/ I was one of the staffers of the main anti-Duke PAC at the time & ultimately became Assistant Director. In 90, even though our Director Lance Hill, myself & a few of our founders wanted to focus on Duke's bigotry, ties to extremists and appeals to white racial resentment…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
7/ So sure, we could discuss his ties to Nazis & such, but we shouldn't make a big deal out of his contemporary racist appeals, per se, bc "lots of voters agree" with those appeals…they even encouraged us to talk about utterly superfluous shit like Duke paying his taxes late..
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
Much like Trump, Duke had a history of remarkably anti-American behavior such as failing to pay his taxes or time and refusing to serve in the United States military. But Wise warns against Dems harping on facts such as those, because they ultimately don’t matter to his base.
9/ I say "sadly" because doing that normalized Duke as a regular candidate. Attacking his generic character or bill paying habits (or even discussing his inadequate plans for job creation, etc) treated him like a normal candidate. But he was/is a NAZI…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
And to ignore the racist elephant in the room is effectively normalizing it.
11/ It allowed people to say "well if he's really this racist, white supremacist, why are they talking about all this other stuff?" It actually undermined our ability to paint him as the extremist he was/is. And as a result, the threat he posed was not clear enough to voters…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
He also warned against the “both sides are bad” argument that helped to tank Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.
13/ …Who said they weren't going 2 vote bc after all Duke's Dem opponent was just a shill for the oil and gas industry, and that was just as bad, blah blah fucking blah…because some lefties can't tell the difference between corporatist assholes and actual literal Nazis…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
15/ In the Governor's race we dispensed w/ all that bullshit. We talked about Duke's ongoing Nazism and the moral/practical evil of his racist appeals. We discussed how that moral evil would have real world consequences (driving tourists and business away, rightly so, from LA)..
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
Instead, as in the case of Duke’s 1991 gubernatorial bid, the key to defeating Trump in 2020 will be to incentivizing those voters who stayed home in 2016.
17/ Now, did this flip any of Duke's 1990 voters? Nah, not really. Indeed he got 65k MORE votes in the Governor's race than the Senate race. But it was never about flipping them. We knew that would be almost impossible…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
19/ And that is what happened. The concerted effort of the anti-Duke forces (not just us), challenging Duke's "politics of prejudice," and making the election about what kind of state we wanted to be, drove turnout through the roof…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
21/ When it was over, Duke had gotten 65k more votes than in 90, but his white share went to 55 (from 60) and overall to 39 (from 44) because the anti-Duke turnout swamped him…So what does this have to do with 2020 and Trump? Do I really need to explain it?…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
23/ Duke retained 94% of the folks he got the first time out (and got new people too), as Trump likely will. So forget these people–or at least don't wast time tailoring messages to them. And policy plans for affordable college don't mean shit to them, nor health care…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
25/ Then there is almost no way to know what would get you to make up your mind…I doubt it's a plan to deal with Wall Street though, or infrastructure, or tax policy…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
27/ And what I know for a FACT is that this message–that Trumpism is a threat to everything we care about and love about this country–is what will inspire the Dem base to vote…and THAT is what this election is about…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
So whoever ends up being the 2020 candidate, the other side needs to present a united front and rally the heck around their guy (or lady).
29/ What the left never understands is: we need to stop approaching elections like the goddamned debate team, and start approaching it like the right does, like the cheerleading squad…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
31/ People who say the Dems should ignore Trump's race baiting because its some genius political strategy calculated to distract us, are idiots. He is no genius. And if you downplay it you NORMALIZE him. If you make this about policy, you NORMALIZE him. He is a racist…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
33/ Or how we are going to fund schools…And anyone who says we should ignore the race baiting to talk more about Mueller and Russia is an even bigger fool…that's like talking about Duke and late tax payments or other corruptions…it might all be true but is not the point…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
“Not to say the House shouldn’t impeach over that stuff,” he concluded, bringing up Trump’s history of alleged corruption. “They should. But the 2020 candidates must craft a message that is not about that. Trumpism is the threat to America, more than Putin. And Putin didn’t birth Trumpism. Conservative White America did…”
34/ Not to say the House shouldn't impeach over that stuff. They should. But the 2020 candidates must craft a message that is not about that. Trumpism is the threat to America, more than Putin. And Putin didn't birth Trumpism. Conservative White America did…
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) July 21, 2019
Wise’s thread quickly went viral and promptly began being shared by prominent celebrities, activists, and journalists on Twitter.
If you've had enough Trump, read this thread all the way through. Well done, @timjacobwise https://t.co/XAqmzjXfIl
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) July 22, 2019
This might just be the most important thread on the 2020 election. https://t.co/MdMz66DtQN
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) July 21, 2019
This is a very important thread from Tim Wise. This is not an ordinary presidential election and Trump is not an ordinary presidential candidate. Act accordingly. https://t.co/F8nVqQZrDz
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) July 21, 2019
This is very long thread, and despite excellent criticism of it, I found much to learn in it and think it is worth reading to the end. Let me know what you think. https://t.co/cID94kBdI1
— Jill Wine-Banks (now on Threads as jillwinebanks) (@JillWineBanks) July 22, 2019
Thread https://t.co/FLOEjzGxhY
— Bradley Whitford (@BradleyWhitford) July 21, 2019
https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/1153013546243911680
Incredible thread. https://t.co/p18BAjOujJ
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) July 21, 2019
As a New Orleanian, I remember when this happened and this is the exact blueprint to defeat a racist like Trump. This thread is a reminder that to ignore history you are doomed to repeat it. https://t.co/yT3N7cFwcS
— Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) July 21, 2019
I was going to post a thread about this but @timjacobwise says it better so read this: https://t.co/gHC00MVbMO
— Mkay (@JoyAnnReid) July 21, 2019
Really interesting thread … https://t.co/ACpkpLnTL4
— shauna (@goldengateblond) July 21, 2019
As the saying goes, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.