Opinion: How the hell could Trump be running neck-and-neck with Harris?

[DSandra]

https://www.rawstory.com/polls-trump-harris-2669294354/

"With less than 40 days until Election Day, how can it be that Trump has taken a small lead in Arizona and Georgia — two swing states he lost to Biden in 2020? How can he be narrowly leading Harris in the swing state of North Carolina? How can he now be essentially tied with her in the other key swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin?

More generally, how can Trump have chiseled away Harris’s advantage from early August? How is it possible that more voters appear to view Trump favorably now than they did several months ago when he was in the race against Biden?"

"Trump is exploiting this asymmetry so that when it comes to choosing between Trump and Harris, voters will choose the devil they know.

This requires, first, that Trump suck all the media oxygen out of the air so Harris has fewer opportunities to define herself positively."

It is worth a whole read. It is important not to have your head in the sand and stay in your own bubble. We want Kamala to win, damnit! He ends on a positive note, and I will post one readers' solution to this tactic that the Trump campaign may be using, as it is also dangerously similar to Karl Rove's 2004 strategy against Kerry.

[msongs]

1. would be nice if the media quit promoting his BS on every outlet and message board nt

[BOSSHOG]

3. I can not rationalize Journalists

Allowing themselves to be stenographers only. Not all. But with trumps piece of work the correct stories should right themselves. A constant objective look at trump by legitimate outlets would have ended his pursuit long ago. In other words, journalists doing their jobs.

And CBS is letting the two VP candidates fact check themselves at the debate? That’s not the candidates job. That’s something real journalists do.

[kimbutgar]

2. The MSM so wants the excitement and daily outrage coming from the convicted felon

What they don’t realize if he gets back in they will have targets on their backs and could be sent to concentration interment camps.

[DSandra]

4. And here is what one reader on Reddit responded with on how to take on this tactic

From Alexmrv on Reddit:

"This is the correct answer, I saw Chavez do this in Venezuela it is extremely effective.

Some additional bullet points:

- In all matters of public vote Media Volume is better than Quality/Tone/anything else, in my country we say “Let them speak of me, good or bad, but speaking of me”.
- Trump is not a moron, a moron doesn’t grift like he does, a moron doesn’t make it to Oval Office, a moron doesn’t get away with the shit he gets away with… do not be fooled, he may be an a-hole, a fascist, a psychopathic narcissis; but he’s not a moron, and the more you let him sell you into his “I’m st0pid” narrative the more you are playing by his rules.
- He’s got money to burn, all he needs to do is sell DJT stock which he’s using to legally launder donations. His lockout period expired, he can spend a truck of cash in the last leg.
How do you counter this?

1. Stop making the narrative about him. Chavez did this, he made it all about him, and it works stupendously. Don’t repost his foolishness. Talk about the alternatives.
2. Don’t preach to the choir! Yes your friends hate Trump, and he’s divided the nation, this works very well too! make some MAGA friends, hang out, drink beer, have a conversation!

No amount of ranting to your buddies is gonna swing the election, and if you think voter turnout is your magic bullet you are going to get railed.

Talk 👏To 👏People"

And I want to also note that from my observances of business people (including via a relative), one can be very smart and intelligent in some things and unintelligent in other things. So Trump can both be simultaneously smart and stupid. But from being a former disciple of business, never underestimate business people strategically.

[Freethinker65]

5. Quite a few Trump/closed border Harris/open border signs in very white northern lower Michigan

Let's just say it isn't the border, it's the misogyny and racism that voters are, for some reason, proud to display around here. Frightening actually.

Once again, I can see voting Republican because you were brought up and raised in a community of Republicans...but I really cannot imagine proudly displaying such a racist sign nowhere near the border, nor many actual minorities for everyone around to see.

[jimfields33]

6. It has to do with Labor Day. That's the day voters start paying attention.

So pretty much everything before hand wasn’t paid attention to by voters. Even on DU, many said voters don’t pay attention until after Labor Day.

[DSandra]

8. Well, the debate was on September 10

So that was definitely favorable to Kamala.

[lees1975]

7. Believe none of it.

It is not true. It is the narrative the media wants you to believe. We just saw a series of polls released over the weekend which show her with leads in all battleground states except there's a tie in Georgia. And even that's closer than it really is.

What surprises me is how many people here, at DU, are tied to the polls like they are something of value or like they are the lifeline of politics. They believe them, even when they are wrong and they buy their shit when they revamp their websites to cover their big mistakes.

While it would be very nice to have an actual idea of where things are headed, and it is absolutely crazy that someone like Trump could even come close to getting the kind of support that he does. a testimony to our failed system of education, badly failed at this point, given what support he does have, I think we are all suffering from some self-inflicted pressure and stress because we know what is at stake. Maybe the pressure is a good thing, and will drive more people to the polls to vote against him than we're expecting to see.

Trump has been losing for quite some time, knows it and so pulls out the extremism. The "marxist" rhetoric ramps up, the accusations, the craziness and the dementia kicks in. We're in full racist, hatred gear now and those should be encouraging signs to those of us opposed to him, because it shows he is getting pounded into the ground and he knows he won't win. We won't make the same mistakes we did in 2016. But we've got to calm down, and put a stop to this chicken-with-our-heads-cut-off narrative and acting like we are buying into this bullshit. It's like we're back in the panic we experienced after Biden's debate performance and the confusion that caused.

[valleyrogue]

10. The schools have NOTHING to do with it. It is upbringing.

Many, many of these people grew up in families that have always been Republican. Many of them are religious. It has NOTHING to do with public education, which is not an institution that is designed to tell kids what to think. I am very tired of the trashing of schools because of the way some people vote. The schools have NOTHING to do with this. I know because I have worked in them for nearly 30 years.

Racism and sexism aren't as a result of "education" as in schools. It is entirely because of the way many people are raised.

[lees1975]

11. We've focused on technical education and left out history.

And they don't get enough of that kind of education, which helps wipe out racism and sexism. In some states, only two social studies credits are required to graduate from high school, and the course content needs to be revised. And I've worked in them for going on 40 years.

[Skittles]

9. women have to be twice as good to be considered half as good

women of color? AT LEAST TEN TIMES AS GOOD

Kamala is up to the task though.......

[FakeNoose]

12. The polls are way off

There are so many Repukes who refuse to vote for Chump, and they're not being counted. Also the independent voters are completely disgusted with Chump. I believe most of the first-time voters are also supporting Harris/Walz.

It's a good reason to ignore all those election predictions that try to make us believe it's "close."

Let's keep our heads down and GET OUT THE VOTE

[DSandra]

13. I certainly hope so. American's can't be this foolish to vote in Nero Hitler

Trump and Vance are the resurgence of Fascism in the world. They want to make America into Gilead.