My generation, gen-X, were the Trumpiest of the voters in 2024. Of people aged 44-65 that voted, 53% of them chose a misogynist, convicted felon. This is discouraging for a fellow gen-Xer like me. So, I decided to take a closer look at the data to understand what happened.
Here’s what I learned: more than two thirds of all Americans eligible to vote indeed made a different choice than mainstream media would have you believe. According to the University of Florida election lab, of the more than 244 million eligible voters, only 31% went out of their way to check the box for Trump (approximately 77 million people). Another 30% checked the box for Harris (approximately 74.5 million voters), and 36.5% (more than 89 million American citizens) chose not to check the box for either. In fact, less than 1/3 of the total citizens eligible to vote in the US in the 2024 presidential election went out their way to choose the Trump/Vance ticket and send a felon back to power.
Not a mandate. To clarify, over 68% of legal citizens 18 years old or older that were eligible to vote in 2024 did not vote for the convicted felon. The result of this election is most certainly not a mandate by and for the American majority. More likely a mistake by the loud and motivated minority. Now Americans need to make some choices on what we choose to do next.
When I was 9 years old a neighborhood kid pushed me off my bike and chipped my front tooth after a heated argument about why girls shouldn’t be allowed in the fort we’d found at the local dump. I went home in tears to find my father still in his green military flight suit getting out of his orange and white GMC Jimmy. I emotionally filled him in on the injustices I’d just suffered, to which my father replied with a matter-of-fact tone and rather insufficient amount of empathy for my taste, “No point in crying now. The way I see it is you have two choices: look around for a bigger stick so you are ready next time to fight back, or stay away from the boy and find a different fort.”
It was 1977 and my latch-key generation was empowered to fight our own battles, our parents were busy. The boy lived two doors down from my house so the second option my father suggested was going to take a lot more effort and humility than my nine-year-old brain was capable of. Plus, the fort was really cool, and frankly, I had spotted it first. Time to find a bigger stick. Five days later when the boy once again blocked the path to the fort, and shortly after went home with a very large lump on his head, his mom called mine to inform us he was no longer allowed to play with me until I apologized. The following week we became best friends, and the official joint-keepers of that fort. We decorated it in Fonzie posters (his choice), and Shaun Cassidy (my choice), and covered the ground with a green shag rug we found rolled up nearby. It was without question worth fighting for and the envy of many.
It’s also fair to say my father may have missed an opportunity to reinforce a higher-road, albeit much more passivist message of ‘turn-the-other-check’ and ‘violence is not the best path forward’. However, in my father’s defense, he was a fighter pilot that had fought in the Vietnam War and became a test pilot for the Airforce upon his return, so that was neither intuitive nor sage advice for somebody in his profession if he intended to both survive and most importantly win. My dad always played to win. He was also raised on a ranch by the same man that scolded me for crying and begging to get in the pick-up truck when the horse I was riding reared at the sight of a snake, threw me to the ground, and stomped on my foot which in minutes swelled so much that I had to tear open my light blue and yellow Puma tennis shoe now caked in mud. Again, with insufficient empathy my grandfather glanced at my foot quickly approaching the size of a large grapefruit and gruffly stated, “You should have worn boots. Don’t let that horse win or you’ll regret it,” and promptly drove off leaving me there alone with the skittish mare and a snake not far off.
Having few other options, I managed to get back in the saddle and rode the three miles back to the barn in a great deal of pain, and angry as hell. I was however in complete control of the horse and not thinking at all about the potential of being thrown again, but instead plotting my revenge and vowing (out loud with explicit language) to never speak to my grandfather for the remainder of my life. I was thirteen, and I was determined. In hindsight I’m still not sure who won that day, but my grandfather may have had a point.
Nearly four and a half decades later, with a marketing career behind me and an equally strong-willed, immigrant husband that co-parented our two amazing children beside me, I am now an empty nester contemplating which battles are worth fighting next. The answer seems clear enough. It is time to get back on the horse, take control, and make sure the bully that knocked us down with conspiracies and lies does not perceive fear or resignation from our side. I am wise enough to know now that there are times it really is better to simply turn the other cheek and move on. But not always, and knowing the difference is what matters most. At least if you intend to win.
I am proud to be an American, and even prouder to be a democrat that voted against the incoming authoritarian administration and oligarchy in tow. My life lessons have taught me that sometimes you fall and get a bit bruised, but if it’s worth fighting for then you must overcome your fears, get back on the horse, and if necessary, pick up a bigger stick and hit back. If there is a will there is a way. Now is not the time to turn the other cheek. It is time to prepare and set the stage to win back the house and the senate in two years’ time, and the presidency in 2028. This fort is worth it.
There has been much debate about why and how the MAGA contingent (the cultish extreme of the GOP), and a man with no morals or respect for anybody but himself, who has been convicted of sexual abuse and fraud, publicly encouraged an attack on our capital live on TV, stashed top-secret government documents in his bathroom, and lied about the election of 2020 being stolen even when the courts proved otherwise over and over, could have won over the minds and votes of any Americans. There has been an equal amount of proof to confirm democratic economic policy is working. The facts indeed show the US economy is the strongest in the world today and the best job market since the 1960s.
There were 14.6 million net jobs added during the first three years of the Biden Administration, the largest increase for any first three years of a U.S. presidential administration. The Chips and Science Act boosted national security by bringing back semiconductor manufacturing, translating to tens of thousands of high paying jobs, and we have launched infrastructure programs designed to build a green economy by investing billions in both red and blue states adding yet another 100K+ jobs. True, we had to overcome global inflation driven by an unprecedented pandemic – which we did faster than any other country with inflation at or near 2.1% today. This year we had an increase in gross domestic product (GDP) of 3%. On top of that household income increased by 4% in 2023 to an average of $80,610, outpacing inflation. Collectively we are without question better off than four years ago and for mainstream media and or politicians to suggest otherwise is simply not true. The world is envious.
So why didn’t this success matter or even resonate with the voters? The answer is simple, marketing, and the stick was a propaganda machine of fear and a made-up culture war. The GOP, and specifically the extreme MAGA contingent are really, really good at marketing their brand of propaganda and fear. The democrats, not so much. Never mind truth.
Marketing is all about reach and frequency, and the GOP took that to heart. They kicked ass by calling in the help of some very motivated billionaires that benefit greatly from neoliberalism, and conspiracy theorists that fear both change and more recently immigrants. The MAGA-cult didn’t brainwash the citizens quickly with their propaganda. They were playing the long game. They were strategic, and consistent, starting with Rupert Murdoch who lobbied hard during Reagan’s tenure to get rid of the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine (that required journalists to share both sides of every story to keep their broadcasting license) when it expired in 1987. Who needs regulations? Certainly not the media if you want the freedom to “control” the message. Rupert Murdoch knew that whoever controls the media controls the people and a mandate that requires you to fairly present differing views on controversial issues would certainly slow down the propaganda machine.
This deregulation paved the way for both cable news and the Rush Limbaugh’s of the world to re-write the narrative and market their messages disguised as credible journalism and education in an entertaining 24/7 package. The conservatives on Murdoch’s Fox News got to work growing their audience. Rush Limbaugh started marketing fear and hate in the 90’s, mentoring like-minded propagandists like Hannity and Tucker Carlson so successfully that before his death Limbaugh was awarded a medal of freedom by our 45th and incoming 47th president and fellow marketing bully. For decades Christian nationalists and the conservative neoliberal cable news anchors and pundits reinforced the trickle-down economics propaganda alongside messages of fear and hate of progressive policies, suffocating the truth with marketing messages (not to be confused with journalism) on Fox News, and eventually paving the way for others to follow step. More recently Newsmax, One American News Network (OAN), Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire, Breitbart and Bannon’s War Rooms, Joe Rogan, and pro-alt-right algorithms and bots on X (formerly Twitter), alongside an army of online influencers and YouTube bro-casters enraged and motivated their audience with their opinions (light on context and even lighter on truth) to get likes, shares and a make a buck with little to no regulation in sight. Creating one of the most successful propaganda machines since the civil war.
To counter this, legacy cable media such as CNN and MSNBC, along with many editorial boards took sides by marketing their progressive opinions and truths, but often without context and never with the mandate that a Fairness Doctrine required to share both sides of the story. Talent such as Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, and Don Lemon were called on to counter the Tucker Carlson’s, Steve Bannon’s and Hannity’s. The only thing American citizens heard consistently were key messages of “fear” and “hate” about the opposing opinion, but seldom all the facts about key policies and the context of why something did or did not work both nationally and or globally. Where were the fireside chats that our leaders used to do to keep us updated, or at a minimum regular press conferences with our leaders covered universally and fairly by ALL news channels? The new media left the citizens of the United States to pick a side and tune in where they were most comfortable, creating echo chambers and only partial truths at best.
It is true that despite the corrosion of a fair and balanced mainstream media ecosystem, and the rapid growth of unregulated online echo chambers catering to extreme messages, democracy could have still prevailed. Our founding fathers were wise, and our constitution is solid, but not perfect. Democracy requires compromise, educated voters, and the will of the people to both maintain the checks-and balances and take the time to demand truth in a sea of propaganda. The fact is Mitch McConnell, the GOP leader at the time of the insurrection in 2020 could have nipped it all in the bud. A responsible more centered GOP could have impeached Trump and taken care of the malignant-MAGA-cancer once and for all when Mitch (the majority leader of the senate) predicted strong bipartisan support to convict Trump. The checks and balances could have worked if congress worked for the American people and put country before party four years ago. Perhaps even winning the minds of independents and the well-educated to join their party permanently. America only needed 17 sound-minded republicans to join the democrats and convict the bully.
But that is history, and no need to cry over spilt milk as we now know exactly how spineless the GOP are and how powerful their propaganda machine is. Making it very clear marketing is the horse we must climb back on, and our message this time must be a much bigger stick (relentless truth exposing the lies and selfish motives) to finally pry the government away from the extremist oligarchy, out for revenge and power, and put it firmly back into the hands of the people.
The founding fathers were right, “A well-informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.”
It is the responsibility of the people to be informed. To be informed you must take education seriously and confirm your source is centered, fair and credible.
To change minds we must now rely on marketing, honing our message and fearlessly calling out the lies with proof and indisputable facts no matter who is listening again and again. At the end of the day, it comes down to who’s message is breaking through, remembered and did it motivate the people to do something. The number one rule in marketing and propaganda is consistency. It’s all about reach and frequency and fearlessly shouting your message.
Let’s get to work!
What you can you do today:
Contact your representatives in congress
Get involved in local politics
Apply critical thinking when you watch or listen to any media
Fact Check and call out the lies whenever possible
Reference the chart above to recognize bias
Every truth matters.