General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I think the reason that many working-class men voted for Rump is because they love tough guys and they were fooled [View all]Farmer-Rick
(11,527 posts)Russia is on team Trump. And will always be because Trump couldn't win without him.
Americans have been under attack by Russian agents since 2015. Putin is a master manipulator and an expert in espionage. He has turned our American oligarch into willing traitors and insurrectionist. And they have gleefully killed our American democracy for him.
Where the Dems go wrong is by NOT swiftly, harshly and permanently punishing traitors and insurrectioniss. Dems take their time bringing prosecution and punishment. Every Republican president since, and including, Reagan, have been traitors and criminals to our American democracy. Yet they have rarely been prosecuted for it.
Here is just one method Putin uses: "Influence by Suggestion:
Suggestion is used to target groups that lack critical thinking, such as the very religious, under-educated, conformists, youth, and people in a state of panic, fear or stress. Using the “authority aura” effect, recognized leaders deliver emotionally charged speeches. Group environments, such as rallies and online forums, create the effect of “psychological contagion” and help to consolidate people around the ideas presented.
For example, in 2016, trolls from the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a St.Petersburg troll farm, organized pro-Trump rallies in Florida, Idaho and Philadelphia, targeting miners and low-income demographics."
https://bylinetimes.com/2020/03/04/big-lies-and-rotten-herrings-17-kremlin-disinformation-techniques-you-need-to-know-now/
Does it seem like every other person on line is a troll? They probably are. Just the vast numbers that Putin uses can overwhelm all our own espionage defenses.
It's NOT that we must win over working men and women. It's that we need to end Russian manipulation of them. We need to punish the traitors and hold insurrectionists to the law and constitution.
Until we address Russian propaganda and psychological attacks on our citizens, Trump and Putin will be our dictator.