“I look at these people and can't quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention? To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. "Can I interest you in the chicken?" she asks. "Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it? To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.”
I would love to see 4 different commercials: one each for Gen. Milley, Gen. Kelly, Bill Barr, and Mark Esper. Simply show each one saying exactly what we've heard about the extreme danger that the orange sadist presents -- and what he did when they worked in his administration. Run these on Faux and CNN.
My background is that of an ad writer and art director for several of New York's largest ad agencies on major accounts. Here is how I would advertise to Trump's working class voters.
Get workers—plural, as many as you can; one per ad—who were stiffed by Trump to speak directly into the camera
____
My name is _____. I am a (type of work). In (year) I was hired to (type of work) on the (name of property). I worked (length of time: days and hours) on that job. I did my job and I did it damn well. I submitted my bill as agreed upon. Donald Trump stiffed me.
Unfortunately Rick, I doubt Trump's demise will not end the fascists in the Republican party. Where are classical Conservatives going to eventually go?
Classical Conservatives per se don't exist, as conservatism (like liberalism) is more a cast of mind than it is a specific ideology. Conservatism in classical antiquity, through the Stoics and Thucydides, etc. meant the acceptance of a preordained, hierarchical social order, that our roles were to know our places in it and a belief that history is cyclical (eternally returning), not linear (progressive). That's the bare-bones essence of conservatism. At best it's a critique of human hubris, as in Edmund Burke's classic and thorough takedown of the French Revolution.
In the modern US, "conservatism" has meant a motley and entirely unstable alliance of classical (free market) liberals, cultural reactionaries and statist warhawks, so-called fusionist Republicanism or Reagan's three-legged stool. Only external opposition by the East Bloc kept this together for as long as it did and indeed, Dubya's first post-cold war Republican presidency collapsed two of the legs entirely, the free market fundamentalists by the housing meltdown and ensuing bank bailouts, and the warhawks by the catastrophes of Iraq and Afghanistan.
I understand LP's tactic of laying all the blame on Trump and separating him from the Republicanism that their targeted voters still feel affection for but I don't think it's an accurate historical analysis. I also worry a little bit that all that affection for Reagan and Poppy Bush might be more endemic to Rick's consultancy milieu than among the GOP rank and file.
Okay, milbank, I'll respond in good faith to that trolly comment and try to more specifically answer your first question. "Classical" conservatives, non-MAGA conservatives, whatever you'd like to call them, have nowhere to go (save of course to hold their noses and vote for Biden to uphold the Constitution). Zombie Reaganism no longer has much national appeal. There is no popular groundswell for a third party either, despite the crypto-MAGA posturings of the No Labels cabal.
I think it's important to try, but I don't know if it would be possible to build the kind of principled conservative alternative to the GOP that Rick would sorely want, that stands for fiscal restraint, less obtrusive government, humane immigration, defense of freedom abroad. Conservatism is inherently elitist and to make it a broadly popular movement you need a collection of boogeymen it can rally against.
And that's what short-circuits conservatism and ultimately turns it into demagogy.
Yes, very trolly. You may have noticed that Substack has a DM feature now. If you want Rick and only Rick to answer, why not shoot him a DM? Otherwise, this is a public comment board and I gave my opinion, to which you have made no cogent engagement.
And yes, I did directly attempt to answer your question. Re-read.
Yes, you said, in as many words as possible, "I don't know." You actually even typed the words, "I don't know somewhere in the middle of all of . . . that. "I don't know" isn't an answer and wrapping a bunch of babble around it doesn't change that fact."
Me not "cogent"? I was very clear. Don't shortchange yourself. You got exactly what I was saying. You just can't take a hint.
Rick, you know I'm not a Bannon line voter so my views aren't very relevant for analyzing the potential impact of this ad. Take this as respectfully (if repetitiously) submitting my views. I have a synoptic, left-wing analysis of the cold war; b-roll of Ronaldus Maximus and Poppy Bush triggers the pre-vomit saliva. GOP cold war orthodoxy IMO did not make America safe; by following the Bannon axiom of no-enemies-to-my-right and supporting the most horrendous, rapacious, anti-democratic and brutal dictators because they were "anticommunist," it made the entire world more insecure, including by increasing the wreckage in the global South that's feeding our current border crisis.
Donald Trump didn't wreck the Republican Party, Rick, the Republican Party wrecked itself, culminating in the entirety of George W. Bush's disastrous presidency. Donald Trump was just a jackal who feasted on the roadkill. But I certainly understand that you can't feed this message to old-school Republicans who don't share my views about this and still feel some affection and nostalgia for their old party.
How about an ad where Trump claims he's gonna drain the swamp, then you show all the swamp people he surrounded himself with. Giuliani, Bannon, Stone, Manafort, Flynn, Lindell, Proud Boys, etc etc.
A group of voters that Bannon was one of the firsts to identify, hence the name. They are R or lean-R independents; generally conservative, well educated, suburban. They were reliable republican votes in the past, but increasingly have trouble voting for trump (and the gop more broadly) since that represents a complete 180 on their principles. (And due to his personal awfulness, betrayal of the constitution, etc)
The key with those folks is that 1/ you only need to peel away a couple of percent of them to create real issues for republicans and 2/ this is actually doable in practice (hence the heavy targeting). Rick and the LP folks have commented that they expect the group of those voters actually in play (for Biden or at least for not-Trump) to be getting larger since 2020.
Yeah, Bannon is evil, but unfortunately for us, he’s also smart.
For me, the good news is that there are a lot of folks who voted for Rs in the past who are just not on board with all the craziness. Maga is super intense, but it’s not — by far — the entire Right.
After the previous two I wanted to love this. BUT the graphics / sequencing is awful. Trump's image often appears at the same time as praises are being sung. Isn't he there with an eagle at one point?
Maybe repeated or slo-mo viewing would find different nuance but for a first view this is bad.
“I look at these people and can't quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention? To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. "Can I interest you in the chicken?" she asks. "Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it? To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.”
― David Sedaris
Ppp
I would love to see 4 different commercials: one each for Gen. Milley, Gen. Kelly, Bill Barr, and Mark Esper. Simply show each one saying exactly what we've heard about the extreme danger that the orange sadist presents -- and what he did when they worked in his administration. Run these on Faux and CNN.
My background is that of an ad writer and art director for several of New York's largest ad agencies on major accounts. Here is how I would advertise to Trump's working class voters.
Get workers—plural, as many as you can; one per ad—who were stiffed by Trump to speak directly into the camera
____
My name is _____. I am a (type of work). In (year) I was hired to (type of work) on the (name of property). I worked (length of time: days and hours) on that job. I did my job and I did it damn well. I submitted my bill as agreed upon. Donald Trump stiffed me.
Unfortunately Rick, I doubt Trump's demise will not end the fascists in the Republican party. Where are classical Conservatives going to eventually go?
Classical Conservatives per se don't exist, as conservatism (like liberalism) is more a cast of mind than it is a specific ideology. Conservatism in classical antiquity, through the Stoics and Thucydides, etc. meant the acceptance of a preordained, hierarchical social order, that our roles were to know our places in it and a belief that history is cyclical (eternally returning), not linear (progressive). That's the bare-bones essence of conservatism. At best it's a critique of human hubris, as in Edmund Burke's classic and thorough takedown of the French Revolution.
In the modern US, "conservatism" has meant a motley and entirely unstable alliance of classical (free market) liberals, cultural reactionaries and statist warhawks, so-called fusionist Republicanism or Reagan's three-legged stool. Only external opposition by the East Bloc kept this together for as long as it did and indeed, Dubya's first post-cold war Republican presidency collapsed two of the legs entirely, the free market fundamentalists by the housing meltdown and ensuing bank bailouts, and the warhawks by the catastrophes of Iraq and Afghanistan.
I understand LP's tactic of laying all the blame on Trump and separating him from the Republicanism that their targeted voters still feel affection for but I don't think it's an accurate historical analysis. I also worry a little bit that all that affection for Reagan and Poppy Bush might be more endemic to Rick's consultancy milieu than among the GOP rank and file.
Hmmmm! That dip was good!
I think I'll go get some more.
Okay, milbank, I'll respond in good faith to that trolly comment and try to more specifically answer your first question. "Classical" conservatives, non-MAGA conservatives, whatever you'd like to call them, have nowhere to go (save of course to hold their noses and vote for Biden to uphold the Constitution). Zombie Reaganism no longer has much national appeal. There is no popular groundswell for a third party either, despite the crypto-MAGA posturings of the No Labels cabal.
I think it's important to try, but I don't know if it would be possible to build the kind of principled conservative alternative to the GOP that Rick would sorely want, that stands for fiscal restraint, less obtrusive government, humane immigration, defense of freedom abroad. Conservatism is inherently elitist and to make it a broadly popular movement you need a collection of boogeymen it can rally against.
And that's what short-circuits conservatism and ultimately turns it into demagogy.
"Where are classical Conservatives going to eventually go?"
That was my question.
At the risk of sounding too "trolly," You did not answer it.
Again, at the risk of sounding too "trolly," How about letting the person to whom I asked the question answer it?
He may not respond.
He may respond with where he thinks classical Conservatives will eventually go
Or, he may just simply say,
"I don't know."
Which is what you've got buried in the middle of all of that gobbledygook.
Oh my. . . . there I go being, "trolly" again!
Yes, very trolly. You may have noticed that Substack has a DM feature now. If you want Rick and only Rick to answer, why not shoot him a DM? Otherwise, this is a public comment board and I gave my opinion, to which you have made no cogent engagement.
And yes, I did directly attempt to answer your question. Re-read.
Yes, you said, in as many words as possible, "I don't know." You actually even typed the words, "I don't know somewhere in the middle of all of . . . that. "I don't know" isn't an answer and wrapping a bunch of babble around it doesn't change that fact."
Me not "cogent"? I was very clear. Don't shortchange yourself. You got exactly what I was saying. You just can't take a hint.
Rick, you know I'm not a Bannon line voter so my views aren't very relevant for analyzing the potential impact of this ad. Take this as respectfully (if repetitiously) submitting my views. I have a synoptic, left-wing analysis of the cold war; b-roll of Ronaldus Maximus and Poppy Bush triggers the pre-vomit saliva. GOP cold war orthodoxy IMO did not make America safe; by following the Bannon axiom of no-enemies-to-my-right and supporting the most horrendous, rapacious, anti-democratic and brutal dictators because they were "anticommunist," it made the entire world more insecure, including by increasing the wreckage in the global South that's feeding our current border crisis.
Donald Trump didn't wreck the Republican Party, Rick, the Republican Party wrecked itself, culminating in the entirety of George W. Bush's disastrous presidency. Donald Trump was just a jackal who feasted on the roadkill. But I certainly understand that you can't feed this message to old-school Republicans who don't share my views about this and still feel some affection and nostalgia for their old party.
Great ad!
Outstanding work as always. Strong, principled and powerful; I have to assume this speaks to true conservatives.
Particularly well done on the last shot (of trump): you managed to craft a picture of him that looks even more repulsive than usual.
Powerful, smart target audience! Excellent ad!
I was never a Republican myself, but I get the segment of society for which the ad is designed and I think it's great.
How about an ad where Trump claims he's gonna drain the swamp, then you show all the swamp people he surrounded himself with. Giuliani, Bannon, Stone, Manafort, Flynn, Lindell, Proud Boys, etc etc.
What are “Bannon line voters”?
A group of voters that Bannon was one of the firsts to identify, hence the name. They are R or lean-R independents; generally conservative, well educated, suburban. They were reliable republican votes in the past, but increasingly have trouble voting for trump (and the gop more broadly) since that represents a complete 180 on their principles. (And due to his personal awfulness, betrayal of the constitution, etc)
The key with those folks is that 1/ you only need to peel away a couple of percent of them to create real issues for republicans and 2/ this is actually doable in practice (hence the heavy targeting). Rick and the LP folks have commented that they expect the group of those voters actually in play (for Biden or at least for not-Trump) to be getting larger since 2020.
Thank you! I had no idea. These people sound more like the people I was friends with before the GOP went off the rails.
I don’t associate anything good with the name “Bannon”. Guess this is the exception that proves the rule.
Thanks again for taking the time to answer my question. A day that I learn something new is a good day!
Happy to help!
Yeah, Bannon is evil, but unfortunately for us, he’s also smart.
For me, the good news is that there are a lot of folks who voted for Rs in the past who are just not on board with all the craziness. Maga is super intense, but it’s not — by far — the entire Right.
You are right. There are plenty of people for whom the excesses and the inability to govern are deal breakers.
Great ad!
This commercial is perfect! ❤️❤️
This ad…chef’s kiss
After the previous two I wanted to love this. BUT the graphics / sequencing is awful. Trump's image often appears at the same time as praises are being sung. Isn't he there with an eagle at one point?
Maybe repeated or slo-mo viewing would find different nuance but for a first view this is bad.
I liked it.
I focused more on the words/messaging...jus' sayin'...
Yes, the verbal part was fine. The video would be better if they just held the image of Lincoln the whole time.
cool....or maybe the other repubs images like Reagan, Bush...