It's the messaging, stupid!

August 6, 2024

On August 5, Newsweek and Raw Story published separate stories with such headlines as "Trump's hometown newspaper lays out ways Harris can beat him."

Trump's hometown paper is The Palm Beach Post, and your prodigal correspondent (that would be me) wrote the story, linked here, published Sunday, August 4, two days before Sen. Kamala Harris named Gov. Tim Walz (a fellow Minnesotan) her running mate.

Here, with slight edits for clarity, attribution, and updating, is the story. It's a three-minute read:

When Harris’ honeymoon ends,

here’s how to pivot the messaging to beat Trump

Mark Sell

Take it from this Trump contributor: Kamala and the Dems are off to a ripping start with messaging. “Prosecutor versus felon.” Catchy. Beats the usual Dem bumper sticker “To Be Continued…”

As one who has followed Trump for nearly 50 years, met him and attended two rallies, some thoughts: Stay confident, never cocky. Kamalamentum. Kamalot. Kamalamania. Honeymoons end. This fight will be tough, ugly, and maybe bloody, possibly beyond inauguration day. Heads high, chins up, keep smiling, seek the funny.

Do not underestimate Trump. This “very stable genius” is a savvy, resilient hot mess, adjudicated rapist and business fraud with a reptilian knack to read a room, size up an audience, tap into the national mood, and attack another’s weakness. Check his YouTube-able 1980 Rona Barrett interview in which he said other countries are playing us for suckers and laughing behind our back and played coy about becoming president. Ever seen Trump laugh?

Think vibes and primary colors. You’ll never forget the July 13 red, white and blue picture and video from Butler, Pa., with Trump’s bloodied face after a near-assassination by yet another mixed-up kid with access to a military-grade weapon, as he pumps his fist shouting “Fight! Fight! Fight!” Trump refused the Secret Service stretcher because he instantly thought of the best optics (which help ratings).

Think bumper stickers. Vision over division. America versus Trump. TEAM versus Trump. Be counterintuitive but lay off racial identity: Dudes/Guys/Bikers/Truckers/Cops/Gun Owners/Hunters for Harris/Walz. Or this, from the late Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota: “We all do better when we all do better.”

Widen your cohort. Consider these three lessons from author Anne Applebaum,* citing autocracy’s defeat in last October’s Polish elections. 1) Build and hold your right-left coalition from Liz Cheney to AOC, all of whom believe in democratic norms and institutions. 2) Do grass-roots campaigning and listen to people in uncomfortable areas: the Arizona border, Western Pennsylvania fracking country, the Texas Permian shale basin. 3) Knock on doors, hit the phones, hustle for turnout, lean in ASAP. Registration ends Oct. 7. Drive people to the polls. Hold your marches before the election, not after it.

Love Your Enemies. Arthur C. Brooks, of the center-right, wrote a book of that name well worth reading. Know that Trump supporter in your office, sports team, or house of worship? Look after their pets. Lend them your tools. Visit them in the hospital. When politics comes up, let them tell you how they got there and feel heard. Don’t pounce. Contempt breeds failure.

Keep in touch. Back in November 2019, I believed the Trump email linking to a $5 printable ticket to get into Trump’s big “homecoming rally” in Sunrise stadium, and drove 40 miles in rush hour, only to find the event was free with no ticket required. ** I felt suckered, as if Team Trump had ripped me off of five bucks while laughing at me behind my back. Yet Team Trump never forgot that $5. Take this recent email from Don Jr.: “I was talking to my father today, and he said: ‘I thought Mark was one of our strongest supporters. I wonder what happened to him?' ” Such relationship-building is one reason the Republican Party now dominates Florida.

Be strategic. Save time and visit app.oath.vote. It’s an algorithm-based site where you can give money strategically, to close house and senate seats, to defeat Trump, push for reproductive rights, or defend democracy, especially if you’re sick of too many guilt-trip “we’re dying/we’re alarmed/not mad, just disappointed” Dem emails and messages.

Think FIDO. Not the dog, but a fetching acronym for “F--- It. Drive On.” For that, I thank The Lincoln Project's fearless Rick Wilson. One can also say "Forget it. Drive on." In other words, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, learn from the mistake, and onward.

Keep your humor. Yes this game is serious -- dead serious. With so much in our society on the line, the effective warrior is a happy warrior. Tim Walz nailed it in Philadelphia tonight. The best weapon is to laugh at yourself first and get back to task. None of us gets out alive. Please don't take yourself too seriously. This mission is too serious for that.

Mark Sell is an independent writer, editor, communications consultant and veteran journalist, based in South Florida for more than 40 years. He is president of Mark Sell Media, Inc.

An earlier version of this article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: How Kamala Harris can tweak her marketing to beat Donald Trump

* This Anne Applebaum link is to her recent presentation at Washington, D.C.'s Politics and Prose bookstore. The intended link starts at minute 43.

** One website mistakenly said I was refused admission. I have never been turned away from a Trump event and attribute the error to my own imperfect clarity in the initial story. I met Trump as part of a small receiving party when he gave the keynote address at the 2004 convention of the Public Relations Society of America in New York. I was incoming Miami chapter president and we were to host the 2,500-person convention in Miami Beach on October 24, 2005; Hurricane Wilma had other ideas.