We need to protect our candidate against the tidal wave of GOP attacks

[Cyrano]

Whoever our candidate for president turns out to be, the Republican propaganda/lie/smear machine will go into overdrive. She/He will be accused of eating babies. She/He will be accused of fucking a yak. He/She will be accused of sexual harassment and perhaps rape. He/She will be accused of being an illegal immigrant from wherever. She/He will be accused of being a horrible, perverted, dangerous threat to America.

This is what the right wing propaganda machine does. This is who they are. And make no mistake about it. They are an arm of the Republican Party. And all of that shit mentioned above will be believed by millions of fools, know nothings, and those who just don't pay attention.

We know this is coming during the 2020 presidential race. But we can't wait until then to fight it.

Our counter attack against Republican shit flinging must start now. We must make people aware of what Republicans do to smear their opponents. We must make people aware that they are going to be drowned in Republican lies. We must make Americans aware that we have two parties: Democrats who believe in our freedoms; and Republicans who have spent the last 40 years fucking us and trying to destroy our democracy and our constitution.

Talk, write, reply to any shit thrown at you, march, and do everything possible to make your fellow citizens aware that the Republican party doesn't care whether they live or die. Make them understand that Republicans will fuck up their Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Veteran's benefits, and do everything possible to line their own pockets with funds that should be going to the well being of the American people.

[snowybirdie]

1. Yes!

Whenever I see negative stuff on any Democratic candidste, either here or other sources,I fight back! Won't believe ANYTHING negative at this point in the election cycle. We can't know where it's coming from, can we?

[DownriverDem]

17. What we need

Now I know there are folks here who disagree, but snowybirdie said Democratic candidates. This is why I constantly point out that Bernie is not a member of the Democratic Party. I hope he doesn't run and create division. We need a candidate that is a member of the Democratic Party & can win the whole country. Folks should take a look at Sen Sherwood Brown of Ohio. He fights for working people. He could win.

[elleng]

2. It's ALREADY begun.

Our counter attack against Republican shit flinging must start now!!!

[dalton99a]

5. +1. Fight back.

[certainot]

25. protest the 88 universities that endorse 260 limbaugh stations

we let limbaugh attack AOC as communist, marxist dunce and deny global warming on 600 radio stations licensed to operate in the public interest

we let without complaint 88+ universities broadcast sports on (endorse) 260+ of those stations

those schools need to be protested until they start looking for apolitical alternatives. they all need to be asked what tthey would do if they were bought by the KKK, putin, trump, and the nra - because that's who they serve.

those radio stations are the backbone of their swiftboating machine because they can lie all day and the left ignores them. protests directed at talk radio will freak them out and get more media attention than other protests.

and AI now makes boycotting rw radio a lot easier since it's easier faster and cheaper by an order of magnitude to digitize the talk and list advertisers along with content - lies, attacks, global warming denial, racism, etc

[rampartc]

3. we are democrats, and perfectly capable of slinging mud at each other

but repubs play the personal destruction game like no one on our side can or wants to.

it would be nice to start with a perfect candidate wrapped in teflon, but trump is already on their side.

i think we need to remember your op and practice its words.

[bdamomma]

4. well maybe

more citizens will realize that their tax returns was nothing but a "set up" to steal from average Americans.

No they have squeezing us for a long time. I do want to see the rich pay for share in taxes.

They haven't done anything for this country only for themselves. This is the time where we citizens stick together and "fight back"...….you can take that anyway you wish.

[Cyrano]

6. They'll just believe they're getting screwed by the IRS

They must be told that they are now paying the price of, and getting fucked by, that immense Republican tax cut for the super rich. Ask them where they thought the money to replace that tax cut was coming from.

[bdamomma]

7. you know

I heard something the other day, kind of true too, do not look down on those who you think are taking from us, look up. Very true.

[MH1]

10. But, abortion and "the gay".

There is a swath of voters who feel they are being tested by God, and must always vote against abortion and "the gay menace" EVEN IF it means they vote against their own financial interests. We have to win the other voters, but realize we will always lose that swath. And they are for the most part completely unreachable by logic.

[Cyrano]

13. Really hard to overcome religious fanaticism

Spend your time working on those who don't drink Kool-Aid

[walkingman]

11. I don't think it will make any difference. I view Trump supporters as low information types

of voters. They tend to like the attacks, nastiness, and name calling. I think present day politics as just another version of Jerry Springer. For some reason these days it is acceptable for the GOP to mock, criticize, lie about, and call names to anyone that thinks differently than the the "fabulous leader". I'm not sure if this is a generational issue or not because I don't have any close contact with younger people. I do think that my generation, baby boomers, has totally fucked up this planet and can only hope that once we are gone things will recover - not sure we can last that long the way it is going. Makes me wish I drank sometimes.

[riverwalker]

8. We are watching it in real time

“Pocahontas”. “Mean boss wrote crabby emails”. “Slept her way up” “Gillibrand ate fried chicken with a fork”. It will be non-stop.

[pandr32]

9. There's no "making them understand"

They call it all fake news or liberal propaganda. This is what is dividing people--even families.

Our fellow citizens from the right-wing seem to have to find out for themselves. But, I agree that we should always call it out.

At least when the dust settles, after the trials following the investigations and their heroes are sent to prison, we will seem more credible as we tell them again and take back our government.

In the meantime our candidates will suffer multiple gauntlets. We need to expose Russian interference and hopefully neutralize it but they have plenty of help right here at home until the traitors and colluders are exposed and indicted. We have one hell of a challenge right now--all the more reason to pick hardy candidates who can handle the heat because it's going to get very hot.

In the meantime we must not fall for the dirty tricks trying to divide us. We also should draw comfort from the fact that most of us citizens are not right-wing.

[bdamomma]

12. nt

[Cyrano]

14. We could really use stronger opposition research

to reveal each and every case of Republican hypocrisy.

No need to publish photos, etc. Just let every media outlet know about what it is they've done and who they've done it to.

Much of it will be financial, although, my guess is that much of it will be salacious.

[pandr32]

27. I agree!

Giving you a heart for your good suggestion.

[PatSeg]

15. Republicans are pros at this kind of crap

They will throw the propaganda out there and just wait for Democrats to pick it up and repeat it endlessly - some defensive, some anxiously apologetic - doing much of the right's work for them.

The candidates who get the most smears are the ones who are the greatest threat. Sometimes the smears will just be blatant lies and other times GOP operatives will take something normal and turn it into some outrageous scandal, i.e. tan suits and Grey Poupon Mustard. The MSM will repeat the ridiculous crap over and over again. It is Democrats' job to nip it in the bud and deflect attention to actual issues and the plethora of very real scandals on the right.

Then trolls will come online, push lots of buttons, and argue endlessly about the rumors, lies, smears, etc. Don't take the bait, wait for real evidence, and accept that even our best candidates will end up having very real flaws.

[yonder]

24. +1. What you said:

"The MSM will repeat the ridiculous crap over and over again. It is Democrats' job to nip it in the bud and deflect attention to actual issues and the plethora of very real scandals on the right."

I'm coming to believe that we are fighting exactly one more opponent than they are and that would be whomever is enabling the MSM. Truth is one thing but as we are learning, it doesn't matter to a large portion of the population.

Head to head, our message can easily overpower their message. However, when we throw something, it might stick for a bit then slide down the wall. When they do, it slides a bit, gains traction, then sprouts legs and takes off covering all the walls. Why is that? Their message seems to be benefiting from some unseen hand(s) and it is far more than the Fox bugle or Chuck Todd's grimy touch.

It's that second, unseen opponent that has been tilting the wheel in their favor and what do we do about that?

[PatSeg]

28. I love the visual

"It might stick for a bit then slide down the wall......it slides a bit, gains traction, then sprouts legs and takes off covering all the walls."

Aside from the "unseen hands", there is also human nature that tends to gravitate toward gossip, rumors, and scandal. Without realizing it, many people take notice of anything that is tantalizing and the media will take advantage of that to keep you watching. Just when we're about change the channel or get up and go do something else, we get that teaser, "And coming up next, new blah, blah, Hillary blah blah emails. You won't want to miss this."

[Awsi Dooger]

16. There needs to be group preparation for the socialism fear

Focus groups and whatever it takes. Socialism is going to be abused by Republicans across the country. If we ignore that it will be like ignoring all the ominous indications regarding the white working class vote coming out of the 2014 midterm.

Otherwise, I'd say we need a mocking song in video form, something that will be performed well and spread on social media. There is no way we can counter everything one by one as opposed to dismissing it by blanket mockery.

Something like, "When Donald Trump speaks...what do we hear...lies and fear...lies and fear...lies and fear...lies and fear..."

Dozens of people in the video, dancing and laughing in unison. It would be ideal because Trump hates being laughed at

[Johnny2X2X]

18. Attack attacks attack Trump

I want to see us call Trump the liar that he is. I want a candidate who is not afraid to fight fire with Fire.

Would love to see someone call him a liar and a traitor to his face in the debates.

[George II]

19. Even before we have a single candidate, we need to protect ALL of our contenders....

...from attacks from all sides.

[brooklynite]

20. Which are the current charges in the news are you saying are made up?

Everyone knows that Republicans will throw mud, but the best protection is not doing something that could be a political liability, or clearing it up before it gets revealed.

[certainot]

21. need offense. protest the 88 universities that broadcast sports on 260 limbaugh stations

that's 40%+ of 600 limbaugh stations - he leads the lying on 1500 radio stations and his are many of the loudest in the country. protests there will get a lot more attention than at capitols and will be directed directly at the swiftboaters.

limbaugh recently created a silly context for repeating "take her out" while attacking AOC as a communist, marxist, stalinist

none of the 88+ universities that broadcast sports on those stations have any excuse not to start looking for apolitical alternatives. they need to be asked what they would do if the stations were bought by the KKK, trump, putin, and the nra - they basically were. they all deny global warming.

the 20-1 talk radio monopoly swiftboat machine is the most effective at selling the lies and making the threats - because it's unchallenged. challenging it will freak the cons out. protests at those unis for that purpose will get media attention.

and AI makes it a lot easier to destroy it now - as soon as the advertising industry finds out how easy and cheap it is to transcribe spoken word, list advertisers, and associate them with content, advertisers will be much more selective

[safeinOhio]

22. I'm going to try real hard

to not make any negative comments about any Democratic candidate for president.
I will make positive post about the one or ones I like.

I may fail, it'll be hard, but I promise to try.

I will put down republiklans every chance I get.

Please join me in my attempt.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN.

thank you

[DirtEdonE]

23. We need to protect our candidates

And, based on the ratfking going on in Virginia, we need to protect our winners too.

Win first. Clean house later. Stop falling into every pubican trap they set.

DON'T REPEAT 2016! FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE!

Election Day is only one day. We must do whatever it takes to win. There will be no second chance.

Whatever we do to win on that one day is more than justified by the alternative.

[lancelyons]

26. When that happens I hope we don't eat our own like we normally do nft