Articulate Persuasion is the Future of MAGA
In 2015, half the country was depressed, angry and frustrated.
From 1988 forward, the Republican party was hijacked by disciples of George Bush Sr., whose core philosophies centered around globalism, “free” trade, lax border security and forever wars.
The takeover of the party was stealthy and ingenious, hidden behind the façade of Bush Sr. as the heir apparent to the Reagan legacy. After all, pundits and the electorate mused, if Reagan was confident enough in Bush to make him vice president, it stood to reason that Bush would continue promoting and implementing Reagan’s policies.
For some reason, the Republican base seemed to forget that Reagan originally selected Bush as his running mate to appease the moderate wing of the party. The choice was certainly not based on compatible ideology.
In fact, the two men competed in the 1980 election primaries, with Bush criticizing Reagan for an economic plan he termed “voodoo economics.”
For his part, Reagan wasn’t overly impressed with Bush either. After a debate where Bush pouted on stage, Reagan came away with the impression that Bush was somewhat of an entitled wimp.
After repeated efforts to persuade Gerald Ford to join him in a Dream Team ticket, which included an offer of a near co-presidency, Reagan ultimately settled on Bush.
As the Reagan presidency blossomed, and his popularity grew, crafty Bush rode on Reagan’s populist coattails and was wise enough to adopt the campaign slogan, “stay the course,” which he rode to victory in 1988.
Yet, Bush was not Reagan at all. While everyone mostly ignored the proclamation that his presidency signaled the beginning of a “new world order,” the truth was that the era of globalism had officially arrived.
From 1988-2016, four different men held the office of president, but each of them was essentially the same guy with a different face. Party affiliation was largely irrelevant. As globalist “free trade” policies proliferated, and China was welcomed into the World Trade Organization in 2001, America bled skilled labor jobs, and the overall standard of living began to decline.
Trump is the Bull in the China Shop
By the time the 2016 election cycle arrived, the momentum of the globalists was so significant that their plan to raise the standard of living of the third world at the expense of American citizens was almost complete. That election contest was supposed to be Hillary Clinton against Jeb Bush, which meant the globalists would win yet again, no matter who received the most votes.
However, in a most unusual turn of events, Donald Trump stepped off the escalator in Trump Tower and completely upended the race. For half the country, it was like releasing pent up steam in a pressure cooker. Trump destroyed his opponents with blunt, caustic attacks on virtually every issue dear to the hearts of globalists, leftists and neocons.
Just look at a few of Trump’s quotes from 2016, and remember how exhilarated you were the first time you heard a candidate running for the highest office in the land actually speaking the truth.
* Immigration: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems… They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
* China: “We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re going to turn it around, and we have the cards, don’t forget it, we have a lot of power with China.”
* Iraq war: “The war in Iraq was a big fat mistake, alright? George Bush made a mistake, we can make mistakes. But that one was a beauty. They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction — there were none. And they knew there were none.”
* Terrorism: “The World Trade Center came down because Bill Clinton didn’t kill Osama bin Laden when he had the chance to kill him. And George Bush — by the way, George Bush had the chance, also, and he didn’t listen to the advice of his C.I.A.”
You see, Trump was finally saying out loud what everyone else was thinking. Up until the Trump candidacy, there were certain issues you weren’t allowed to raise, even in polite Republican company. You couldn’t call illegal aliens “rapists” even though some of them are. You couldn’t call the Iraq war a mistake even though by 2016, everyone knew it was. You couldn’t criticize China and free trade deals even though they put America on a path to economic suicide.
Trump was indeed the proverbial bull in the China shop, (no pun intended) talking directly to middle America and finally giving them someone who expressed their views on the world’s largest stage. He couldn’t be bought (too rich), couldn’t be intimidated (too much moxie), and the more the people related to him, the more dedicated he became to them.
The Next Evolution in MAGA and America First
The MAGA movement is so ingrained in American culture that the term “Republican” has lost its ideological meaning. At this point, the name only applies to a political apparatus rather than a philosophy. Despite the hopes of RINOs, who are a dying breed, even a Trump loss in the election will not deter MAGA. Remember, believers in America First know they already won a presidential election and remain convinced they were screwed out of a second victory. They will forever believe that if they did it twice, they can do it again.
So, what happens to MAGA after the era of Trump?
You got a glimpse of the best version of MAGA post-Trump in the debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz. At one point, one of the stick-up-their-ass, smug moderators made it a point to fact check JD Vance on his claim that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio are illegal aliens. You can watch the exchange below.
In 2024, leftists have refined the tactic of discrediting assertions of pro-America candidates through so-called “fact checking.” Do any search on Google that requests fact-based quotes from Republican candidates, and you’ll get six pages of negative fact checking results before finding what you’re looking for. It’s actually become quite annoying.
This is nothing more than gaslighting by the left that is targeted to reach the uninformed. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the original assertion by the Republican candidate is correct, especially when it pertains to making a point, but the leftist media will go to great lengths to obfuscate the truth in order to perpetuate their myths.
The Republican response from Vance was perfect and signals a new strategy for MAGA moving forward. If you will notice, he stopped the discussion, dissected the false claim from the moderator, and factually explained the basis for his argument. The art of articulate persuasion, which is what Vance demonstrated in the CBS debate, is exactly what is required from the next generation of MAGA leaders. In other words, making the same points as President Trump, but doing so in a way that debunks and exposes fraudulent challenges with courtesy and in a way that’s easy for ordinary Americans to understand.
Vance is not the only MAGA leader with this ability. Listen and watch this exchange between Don Lemon and Vivek Ramaswamy on racism and minority rights. Notice how Ramaswamy calmly parries every assertion from Lemon with a combination of logic, common sense, optimism, and articulate persuasion. Throughout the discussion, Lemon becomes increasingly agitated and aggressive because he can’t figure out how to discredit Ramaswamy. Many believe that interview is the reason Lemon lost his job at CNN.
MAGA has a Bright Future with Rising Stars
JD Vance has talked about the value of persuasion, and that is exactly how MAGA grows in the future. We need more people to understand and see the world the same way we do, and we need leaders who articulate our positions in a way that doubters can understand.
That’s the way forward, and I believe that by picking JD Vance as his vice president and embracing Vivek Ramaswamy as a key contributor in a future administration, Donald Trump sees the same vision for the future of MAGA and America First.
