My Dear Friends on the Left

I Hate to Say I Told You So…But….

As a kid, I used to laugh at the headlines in the National Enquirer that my mother used to read religiously as if it contained actual news. One of those headlines was “You Read it Here First.”

On the heels of SCOTUS’ decision affirming Donald Trump’s right to remain on the presidential ballot, effectively overturning the Colorado Supreme Court's earlier ruling, that headline is ringing in my head. Why? Because, folks, you indeed read it here first.

I warned you. I told you so. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

And now that the MAGA hat crowd’s exalted leader has dodged yet another bullet and come out on top again, they’re going to be all fired up! It’s going to be like adding gas to an already raging fire.

So, my pals on the left, as well as those on the right who aren’t completely engulfed in the cult of personality, let’s get down to brass tacks, as my mother would say. Let’s talk turkey. Let’s talk strategy.

Okay, yes, I’m Canadian. You might be wondering why I’m telling you what to do with an upcoming election in your country. I’ll tell you. I’m up here right above you in that large frozen wasteland with all the delicious fresh water. And the insanity you have there migrates up here.

I’m also very tired of what I see as a terrible strategy on the part of the left, especially as regards the Orange Menace.

Every time you pull some “theory” out of your ass that you think might work, throw it at the wall and pray it sticks, it doesn’t. And every time it doesn’t, you look silly and they fill with more hot air than a big balloon.

I don’t know who comes up with the ideas for these attacks, but every single one of them needs to be fired.

Don’t pick a fight that you’re not at least reasonably certain you’re going to win.

That’s some advice from my father, a poor, Black boxer from back in the day.

Do your research before you go off half-cocked. Actual research, not just asking the civil servant next to you if it seems like a good plan.

A first-year law student in their first week of law school would have known there was no legal basis to keep Trump off the ballot. And I’m not talking about the best and brightest students. Nope, that one person at the very bottom of the curve would even know that.

So let’s try something new. Let’s stop trying to get him with the smoking gun, the knockout punch or whatever other hail-mary bullshit manoeuvre you might have in mind.

This is more of a death-by-a-thousand-cuts type of battle. Patience, perseverance, canvassing, campaigning.

Forget him. He’s not going away. Never mind his messaging. Focus on your own. You’re not converting his die-hard supporters. They’re fired up, they’re coming out. They’re casting ballots.

What about Democrats? They don’t seem all that fired up. Honestly, you feel kinda lukewarm to me. That has to change. In a nation where barely 2/3 of eligible voters cast a ballot, apathy is not your friend.

It’s time to go grassroots. Meet the people. Go to the pubs. Go to the malls. Go to the inner cities, the church socials, the farms, the factories, the colleges and wherever else people gather. Go to the First Nation communities. Go to the Black and Latino communities. Wherever there are people, go there. And listen. Listen first.

And no, not like that awful Biden clip showing him sitting down to a fried chicken dinner with a Black family. Seriously? This is EXACTLY what I’m talking about, tone deaf, stupid, stupid, offensive strategy. Whoever came up with that needs to be fired yesterday!

Go, go to the people. Listen. Hear what they say. Then think. Then, think some more. Then talk. Talk about what matters. Talk about the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Talk about the affordability crisis. Talk about racial injustice. Have a plan. Have something to offer other than, “We’re not Trump.”

Get people fired up. Get them excited about something. Get out the vote. Get the volunteers. Go to the people.

There’s still time. Not much, but there is if you heed my words now.

Some fights have to go all 12 rounds. There’s no knockout punch. That’s where we are. This is one of those fights. You’re (we’re) about to lose in a split decision, to extend the boxing analogy.

SCOTUS’ decision is a stark warning that the left is off course in its strategy. And I told you so. Ignore me at your peril. Well, our peril. But what do I know? I’m just a mixed-race, female Canadian who worries about the state of the world.

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