So I feel like there's a phenomenon brewing that is eerily similar to the 2016 elections and I'm not sure folks who lean left are seeing it. The following is just some observations based on how I feel personally, so take it for what it's worth. (Or ignore completely.)
1/22

At the beginning of this election cycle - before COVID, riots and looting - I was open to seeing what the Democrats had to offer. I've been doing well under the Trump administration, but I also did okay under Obama. I didn't like O's policies, but I was personally fine.
2/22

The early slate of Democratic candidates was, um, "interesting", but there were a couple of promising folks in the mix. I'm pro-life, so that's a bit of a "third rail" issue for me. But there were a couple of candidates for whom I actually would consider voting.
3/22

My favorite candidate, of course, was dispatched by media and the establishment alike for not being radical enough, but I think this would be a very different election if she made it through to the top of the Democrat ticket, but alas we've got Biden/Harris. No comment.
4/22

Similar to Clinton in the last cycle, the entirety of the strategy seems to be "we're not Trump" and that's not enough to win centrists over. You'll deepen the roots in your base, but you're not pulling anyone across the ideological aisle.
5/22

This strategy is a crap shoot at best, but if played properly, it could have legs. The problem, however, is that it's not being played properly. The same pablum that was peddled by Clinton is being peddled now and will likely lead to the same results.
6/22

Here's the problem: Trump supporters are not the clueless rubes as painted by the media & the left. Further, the more you try to paint his supporters in that light, the more independents and open-minded right-of-center folk see your strategy as one of arrogance.
7/22

The "how can you vote for THAT person" strategy, in fact, deepens the "liberal elite" tag the right has successfully hung on a majority of the Democratic voting bloc. Each story/Tweet/quote insulting Trump supporters reinforces that stereotype. You're playing yourself.
8/22

The other stereotype the right has successfully painted on the left is that another D bloc is in favor of lawlessness and anarchy. No thinking human with a soul likes what's going on in Portland et-al, but the more that's tolerated and excused, the trenches are dug deeper.
9/22

As lawlessness escalates, more centrists are going to be pulled to the right. Every video of a "peaceful protestor" telling a motorist, who is just trying to go home, that they have to turn around because the road is blocked for a protest becomes a Trump campaign video.
10/22

The vast majority who watched the Floyd video (or any of the other excessive/deadly force videos) were in allyship with the movement to drive systemic change. When you shout "defund the police" with a Molotov in your hand... that's when we turn right and walk away.
11/22

When leaders who declared their allegiance to the left step aside and let their cities descend into anarchy, then blame the right for the violence, people can smell the B.S., so more centrists turn right and walk away.
12/22

When Cuomo still claims "Trump spread COVID in New York" while Rochester goes up in flames, centrists turn right and walk away. (Especially when we saw videos of empty Javits Center beds and hospital ships sitting unused at the docks.) You can only cry wolf so many times.
13/22

And that's the crux of it: since Trump became the candidate, the media has been 24x7 "orange man bad" and I'm a bit desensitized by now. He knows this, too. So he throws out Tweets that get the media and the left in a tailspin, knowing it will amp-up the pettiness.
14/22

That's how you end up with articles - across multiple outlets - running headlines about the lack of masks at a Trump rally right next to photos of packed events. I'm no political strategist, but I fail to see how that's a winning strategy.
15/22

COVID is real and it's deadly serious, but it's not the boogeyman the left thinks it is. I believe the center/center-right see these photos and don't think "where are the masks?!?!?" I think the first thought is likely: "wow, that's a lot of people supporting Trump."
16/22

When you're worried about putting food on the table or wondering how you're going to be able to keep your family business afloat, you go into survival mode. That creates tunnel vision. That means all other issues become a distant second.
17/22

Blaming Trump for everything - particularly items for which there is video evidence that runs contrary to the headlines - is not resonating with anyone but the left's already entrenched base and are pushing folks on the fence to the right side of the lawn.
18/22

I preferred Trump to Hillary, but I didn't vote for him. I supported him because he's our President, but I don't own a MAGA hat. The more the media tried to paint the past 3.5 years as an unmitigated disaster, the more I felt I was being fed a line that was deeply biased.
19/22

When everything is offensive, nothing is offensive. When everything is a crisis, nothing is a crisis. There are no more pearls left to clutch. No more shocks to the system. No more boogeymen under the bed. Just fatigue.
20/22

So when I see celebrities and wealthy people tweet out comments like "I don't understand why Trump isn't flailing in single-digit approval numbers", it doesn't make us join you in questioning that. It makes you seem detached and judgmental of those who don't think like you.
21/22

So, yeah...within the span of a few months, I went from "I could see myself voting for this Democratic candidate" to feeling largely politically homeless, but much more closely aligned with Republicans. Maybe my story is unique, but I'm willing to bet I'm not on an island.

/END