“To My Friends on the Other Side of the Aisle” Part 1

I was asked by the smart people at SMART (Social Media Approaches for Resisting Trump) to put in my two cents on how to communicate with the folks who support the Trump “agenda” (if there is one that is not changing dramatically each day), and since I am a “professional communicator” of sorts, and I have lived and worked among some folks ‘on the other side of the aisle’-- I have taken up this daunting challenge…it is not for the faint of heart. This is Part 1 of 2.

First, know your audience. There are two distinct camps, your relatives make up this tribe. Your friends hang out at the other campsite. (More on them in Part 2.) I would label family the “Blow it all up!” brigade.  This clan used to only follow the Tea Party’s Grover Norquist ideology that government is the enemy of the people, and it should be choked to death in a bathtub. Their rallying cry is Reagan’s ironically unpatriotic slogan:"I’m from the government and I’m here to help!” (which really was a punchline for a joke, rather than his political agenda). After all, he was a president who did actually reach across the aisle as he did with 1986 Tax Reform Bill fought for by senators Bill Bradley (D) and Bob Packwood (R) and a bipartisan group of congressmen.  Oh, those were the days!

The “Blow it all up!” brigade, incited by the Rush, Sean, and No-Spin/No Job Bill crowd, are unlikely to listen to you. But Trump put a new wrinkle on the ‘no government gang’: “End Globalization-- America First! Nationalism is here to stay!” This has been the dry wood that burns the hottest and fastest. Trump tapped into this firestorm. It is red meat to people who are starving, and I do mean starving, for someone to care about their poverty, their loss of jobs, their sagging opportunities, their outsourced jobs and shuttered factories. Trump’s actions have little to do with their plight, but that truly is beside the point.

That’s what you’re dealing with when it comes to the “Blow it up’ brigade. They are pissed. They see the elites in DC and on the two coasts not understanding what is happening in the ‘fly over states—the rust belt…well, Bernie Sanders did, but he was a “comrade” in Trump’s world.

My advice, if you are brave enough (or caught in holiday crossfire) is ...just listen, and calmly walk away. The more you argue, the worst it gets. It will usually climax with a relative spewing out remarks like these I have heard: “Obama never did a day’s work, all he did was community organizing”; Hillary is the most corrupt politician ever!”; “All I want is government to give me a military and build my roads”; “Trump will bring back jobs taken by the illegals!”; “Obama was a pussy!”;”Hillary is evil!”. And as a topper, Pew research in 2016 reported that only 15% of conservative Republicans believe that the planet is warming, and man made causes are the major culprit. Why? “It’s a hoax created by China!”

If you are ready for that vitriol—good luck. But don’t let it escalate to that. Really nobody on either side of the family aisle really wants that dialogue to occur. Cooler heads might prevail…hopefully. But more likely family will be fractured, and trust will be lost. Best put your toe in that camp’s waters and jump back from the icy cold. Listen and learn. It will serve you well when dealing with the other camp—your friends and their spouses. Stay tuned for that in Part 2.