David Weissman: "I was a Trump Troll"

[JHB]

37. There are different levels of engagement and forgiveness

What engagement needs, first and foremost, is someone on the other side who is willing to engage, as Weissman was. It can take effort to find them -- it's definitely missionary work or selling to a very reluctant customer -- you have to accept the success rate will be low. Not everyone has the temperament for that sort of work, but it does need to be done, if only to plant seeds in the cracks of the brick wall that might eventually sprout later on.

And once you find the ones who are willing to admit they were wrong about Trump, you can move into talking with them about "why did they think that?", "was that really true?", and "what other things are you just as sure about as you were about Trump, and are you willing to consider you may be wrong about those too?"

However, there's a difference between people who might be reachable if they can be weaned off their daily dose of foam from FOX and other RW bubble suppliers, and with high-profile people who may be saying terrific anti-Trump stuff now but who entirely sidestep their own careers as workers and managers in that foam-factory.

Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson, Charlie Sykes, and other "NeverTrumpers", and Joe Scarborough get a lot of time and attention these days, but they are not our friends. We're not in an "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" situation with these guys.

It's more of a "the enemy of my enemy is the guy who will shiv me in the kidneys the moment I've done his dirty work for him" kind of situation.

These people spent their careers as Republican political consultants and conservative media people playing upon the same themes Trump does in order to deliver votes for conservative Republican candidates so that they would have the numbers to pass their own favored agenda.

But backfiring is inevitable for a long-term strategy of "vote for us and we'll take care of the bullshit things you hat and fear." It creates an expectation that they're never able to really deliver on ... and your target audience will still believe those things, but will turn on you for being weak and ineffectual.

That's where most of the high-profile anti-Trump conservatives are, and they don't get forgiveness until there's some sign they won't go straight back to their old comfortable spots and habits the moment they see an opportunity.

There are a rare few of those who do qualify, ones who have publicly said they were wrong and OMG, vote for Democrats so we can stop this madness. But they are still much too rare.