To quote a certain, well-known “harmless, lovable fuzzball”: See, I told you so!
Political PR is all about trajectory. It’s not where we are, but where we’re moving. The phrase itself — a political movement — implies as much.
Forget about nuance. Don’t try to split hairs. Instead, we’ve got to pull a Wayne Gretzky and skate not where the puck is today, but where it’ll be tomorrow.
There are two halves to the political PR equation. The first is the push/pull reaction from the core members of our base: Ambitious politicians heed the cues of their grassroots rank and file. When they get a green light, they run forward; a red light pulls ‘em back.
The second half is the “slippery slope argument.” It’s how the Democrats weaponize our base, pitting ‘em against independents, undecideds, and moderates.
Intuitively, we all understand that the past is prologue; the actions of tomorrow are built on the back of yesterday’s choices. And since politics is all about trajectory, the “slippery slope argument” is usually the best scare tactic.
Voters are FAR less afraid of today’s status quo than the mystery of tomorrow — i.e. what God-awful thing might happen next.
Today might not be perfect, but for most people, it’s not nearly as frightening as our scariest visions of the future. That’s the soft spot in our psyche: It’s where our mind is most vulnerable to outside manipulation.
Which brings us to RFK Jr., MAHA (Make America Healthy Again), and the anti-vax movement.
Just going by the comment section in yesterday’s article, “Do We REALLY Wanna Allow the Left to Tie MAGA to the Anti-Vax Movement?,” it certainly seems that my PR advice is running contrary to the goals and dreams of many loyal PJ Media readers. (By the way, I always read the comments, so please keep ‘em coming!)
And I understand the sentiment. After the excesses, outrages, and outright lies during the COVID epidemic, the last thing we want is to empower the government to mandate even MORE experimental vaccines. That’s the “slippery slope” the MAGA/MAHA base fears.
But the “slippery slope” the left is exploiting has a PR numeric advantage.
Polling showing that a majority of President Donald Trump’s voters support vaccines was shared with several Republicans lawmakers’ staffers in a closed-door meeting Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the meeting.
NBC News obtained a copy of a memo, dated Aug. 26, summarizing the poll results. It was conducted by veteran Republican pollsters Tony Fabrizio and Bob Ward and concluded “that there is broad unity across party lines supporting vaccines such as measles (MMR), shingles, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (TDAP), and Hepatitis B.” Fabrizio and Ward presented the findings during the meeting, the sources said.
[…]
The poll found that there was broad agreement that vaccines should continue to be made available at no cost, including two-thirds of Trump voters and more than 8 out of 10 swing voters.
Respondents said they place their greatest trust in doctors and nurses when it comes to vaccine information, including 76% of Trump voters.
About 73% of Trump voters and 83% of swing voters agreed that vaccines save lives.
While the poll showed Trump voters support most vaccines, it also found lingering partisan divides over Covid vaccines. Only 22% of Trump voters said it was important for people to get the Covid shots, according to the poll.
The memo said, however, that “Republicans should not mistake skepticism over the COVID vaccine as evidence that Republican voters are against all vaccinations.”
Your rebuttal might be, “We’re not anti-vax, we’re just anti-mandate.” Fine. But you’re arguing nuance — one of the least effective tools in our PR toolbox — and you’re STILL gonna be tarred-and-feathered as an anti-vax acolyte.
This isn’t about truth. It’s just politics, babe.
President Trump’s PR instincts are unworldly; he’s a frickin’ savant. Our base would be wise to consider his reaction to Florida’s decision to be first-in-the-nation to remove all school vaccine mandates, because he’s a helluva lot closer to my PR analysis than the hardcore anti-vax/mandate side.
President Trump expressed reservations Friday about Florida moving to eliminate school vaccine mandates, calling it a “very tough position” and arguing some vaccines are uncontroversial.
“I think we have to be very careful. You have some vaccines that are so amazing,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, citing the polio vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine, which was developed during his first term.
“You have some vaccines that are so incredible. I think you have to be very careful when you say some people don’t have to be vaccinated,” Trump continued. “It’s a very tough position. Just initially I heard about it yesterday, and it’s a tough stance.”
“Look, you have vaccines that work. They just pure and simple work. They’re not controversial at all, and I think those vaccines should be used, otherwise some people are going to catch it, and they endanger other people,” Trump added. “And when you don’t have controversy at all, I think people should take it.”
(See? Told ya so!)
The sweet PR spot for the GOP is to be the party of safer vaccine policies.
We should empower American families to make the smartest, safest, most pro-life decisions for them and their children. Nothing more, nothing less.
But most importantly… nothing more.
Otherwise, it’ll cost us dearly on Election Day.
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