This Does Not Seem Like the Best Way to Respond to Trump's National Guard Deployments

"In a nutshell, Strategist Brain is the misapplication of the kind of data that is gathered by people who create campaign advertising. Democratic operatives and elected officials who suffer from terminal manifestations of the disease take microtested information about which sound bites appeal marginally more than other sound bites to undecided voters-data that can be useful in its own limited context -and use it to guide the governing decisions and institutional goals of the entire party in a manner that is, ironically, ultimately detrimental to its electoral chances."

"In this instance, the brain in question belongs to David Shor, a message-testing consultant who is invited every month or so to speak to party leaders at a luxury hotel about how to "win back the working class." Shor's firm, Blue Rose Research, has circulated a memo about Trump's D.C. takeover that concludes, "unfortunately," that describing the military deployment as a "violation of Democratic norms" or an example of "rising authoritarianism" is not effective. Instead, the memo advises Democrats to "pivot" the subject of the deployment to a discussion of, for some reason, tariffs. Here's the text it suggests for making that delicate turn:"

"Donald Trump's takeover of D.C. is a stunt to distract from the pain his tariffs are causing families. Trump's tariffs are driving up prices on groceries, cars, and everyday goods, hitting working people hardest. Instead of fixing the economy he's hurting, he's picking political fights to change the subject. Americans deserve lower costs,"

Strategist Brain names the misapplication of campaign-message microtesting to broader party governance and strategy. Operatives use microtested preferences for marginally more appealing sound bites to guide institutional goals and governing decisions. That practice can produce strategically driven but electorally harmful choices. David Shor and Blue Rose Research exemplify the phenomenon by advising Democrats to avoid framing Trump's National Guard deployment as authoritarian and instead pivot to tariffs. The recommended pivot reframes a military stunt as an economic distraction, shifting focus to rising prices and costs for working families rather than democratic norms or authoritarianism.

Read at Slate Magazine