JD Vance, eating kittens, and 2025
Newsletter #66 / September 23, 2024
J. D, Vance isn’t stupid. Neither is Laura Loomer, or Majorie Taylor Green, or all the other demagogues we grind our teeth at. They understand the power of fear perfectly, the ability of people to believe what they want, the public’s eagerness to scoop up gossip and sensationalism. All this stuff they’re creating is real, and it isn’t going away, no matter how much fact-checking we throw out. J.D. Vance is going to go on. So are the kittens, because losing this election fits right into Vance’s game plan. It fits into all of theirs.
We have to win on November 5th. Period. And we need to spread the inspiring Harris campaign message as far and wide as possible. But if those political slogans remain slogans, if the words are seen as political messaging, then no matter what happens on November 5th, decisive change .. putting Vance and MAGA and everything they represent back into the box … will not happen. That change we so desperately want depends on building permanent support among the thousands of unaffiliated and disaffected voters in your county … a permanent change in attitude. And this permanent change depends on what happens after the election.
Going door-to-door with Harris campaign materials is one thing, and it’s important. It’s crucial. But it’s something else to go up to an unaffiliated voter and begin by saying “I believe in Freedom,” then handing them this:
And it’s something else entirely to start a discussion with that unaffiliated voter, to ask them what their definition for Justice is … listen … then say “Take a look at mine,” and hand them this:
Opportunity is best of all. Opportunity is bread and butter. Opportunity is a better life for your kids. It’s the number one issue for a huge swath of the unaffiliated voters you know, and this is what they need to see:
Of course, you start by asking questions. What does Opportunity mean for them? What are their problems, their priorities? And you listen … you always listen, it’s the key to everything ... and you ask more questions. When they bring up policies they don’t like, or just plain attack lines they’ve heard, you ask how they define Opportunity, what it means for them. Patiently draw them back to the basics.
And then you show them the Definitions. You give them time to look at it. You ask them what they disagree with, what they’re uncomfortable with. The goal is a conversation, a real exchange of ideas. Why? Because we own values. Anytime a real discussion of values takes place … anytime people stop and think about these things … we win.
Now, if you really want to make an impression on the unaffiliated voter, suggest putting these definitions side-by-side with the Republican definitions. Do it openly. Suggest arranging a sit-down with a Republican voter, a three-way cup of coffee, a chance to compare definitions. “Hey, maybe we have more in common than we think!”
Embrace the idea, because Republicans don’t have definitions. They have words. They shout things like “Freedom!” from time to time (especially “Conservative values”), but the words are empty, devoid of real meaning. If a Republican actually shows up and lays out a political manifesto, any kind of hype or spin, so much the better. Having that sort of thing laid out next to truth is exactly what you want the unaffiliated voter to see.
And that is the point of all this: discussion. It isn’t to convince the unaffiliated voter on the spot, it’s to start a process: to let the truth of these definitions speak for themselves, to let the truly unaffiliated voters have a chance to think it over, to come to terms with values and what they really mean ... and who champions them. That is how we turn campaign slogans into campaign results on November 5th in rural counties, one discussion at a time. And that is how we begin the process of turning your county around permanently, starting the day after the election, and continuing on through 2025 and 2026, and every year until we achieve it.
These cards with the definitions of Freedom, Justice, and Opportunity are free to use. Just go to dems101.org/resources and print them off. Print the Democratic Creed card as well. The Democratic Creed is the foundation for all of this, the final piece to pull independents over.
And adopt the Democratic Creed. Make these values your public identity. Make them your belief, because the passion of your belief is what will carry you through all this, not just the election, but all the work we need to do in the coming years to change the political dynamic in your county, in your community, in your backyard.
Act now. It’s free, and it’s already working in rural counties in fourteen states. And reach out us. We have more. Campaigning with Values and Vision is available to every county that adopts, and we are here to back it up.
Good luck in the coming weeks. So much is at stake, and so much of what happens rests with you, the rural county leadership across this nation.
Jim Purvis, author and Founder, Democrats 101
