We Lost the Message. Now It’s Time to Change the Strategy
Let’s be honest with ourselves: we’ve lost. Not permanently. Not irreversibly. But in this moment, we’ve lost the messaging battle.
The average person—the people we need to reach—aren’t panicked. They aren’t alarmed by what’s happening. Some might be uneasy, but for the most part, they are giving Trump a pass. They’re willing to wait and see. They’ve been conditioned to believe that all the warnings, all the concerns, all the urgency we’ve been raising is just partisan noise.
And here’s the hardest truth: Our current strategy isn’t working.
We can keep writing think pieces. We can keep posting on LinkedIn. We can keep engaging in debates with people who already agree with us. But the people who actually need to hear us aren’t seeing any of that.
📺 They’re watching sports.
📱 They’re scrolling through TikTok.
🎶 They’re listening to music.
🍿 They’re watching Netflix.
While we’ve been pouring energy into traditional political discourse, the right has spent decades embedding their messaging into everything people consume—entertainment, media, language, even humor. They understand something we’ve largely ignored: people don’t change their minds because of facts. They change their minds because of stories.
💡 It’s Time for a Different Approach
For too long, we’ve relied on logic, data, and moral high ground to make our case. But facts don’t move people—narratives do. The reason many Americans don’t feel an immediate sense of danger is because they haven’t seen, in a visceral and personal way, how these policies will impact their daily lives. And no matter how many charts, studies, or impassioned essays we throw at them, it won’t land the way a single powerful story will.
The right knows this. They are masters of using storytelling to shape public perception. They don’t convince people through policy papers; they do it through emotionally charged rhetoric, through characters in TV shows who reinforce their worldview, through simple but effective phrases that stick in people’s minds.
We need to start doing the same.
This isn’t about propaganda in the cynical sense. It’s about meeting people where they are. It’s about using every tool available to shape culture—because culture is where politics starts.
🎨 The Power of Culture and Storytelling
We still hold significant power in cultural spaces. Writers. Filmmakers. Artists. Musicians. Comedians. Creators. The people who influence what gets talked about at the dinner table and in group chats. The people who shape the way we see each other and the world.
If you’re one of these people, now is the time to ask: How can you weave the truth into your work in a way that reaches beyond our own circles?
📺 A TV show that subtly challenges harmful narratives without feeling like a lecture.
📚 A novel that makes someone empathize with a perspective they never considered.
🎶 A song that captures a feeling of loss, frustration, or hope in a way that sticks.
🎤 A stand-up routine that breaks down hypocrisy through humor rather than outrage.
It’s not about being preachy. It’s about embedding truth in ways that are felt rather than argued.
⚡ We Can’t Afford to Waste This Moment
The right didn’t win by being smarter. They won by playing the long game. By reshaping the way people think, step by step, until what once seemed extreme became common sense.
We can do the same—but only if we stop expecting people to meet us where we are. We have to go to them.
The lesson here isn’t that we should give up. It’s that we should stop trying to win an old battle with outdated weapons.
We need a strategy that actually reaches people.
👉 Creators: Use your platform to tell stories that shift hearts and minds.
📢 Everyone Else: Amplify the creators who are driving this shift.
🔥 Because the fight isn’t over—but if we don’t change how we’re fighting, we’ll keep losing ground.