I M Probulos.com

It should not take much to defeat Donald Trump in the 2020 election. His policies are hurting everyday Americans, he is a habitual liar, he refuses to believe science, and is simply a horrible human being.

Fighting him with policy statements, facts, science, and logical arguments is a losing battle. He firmly believes that his supporters will believe whatever he tells them. He takes credit for anything good, and scapegoats everything bad.

I organized issues into two, sorted groups: those that would appeal to the independents and middle-America, and those that would appeal to liberal Democrats. The difference in the two groups and the order is significant. Democrats will have to decide how to toe the line between exciting the liberal base and adding millions of new voters, and peeling off disgruntled Trump voters.

I sorted each group into the top 20. I counted over 30 issues so there is also my honorary mention group. The groups are:

Independents/former Trump supporters: These are the ones that moderate issues will impact most.

Liberals: This list of topics are the ones that 99% of Democrats are for in general but the more liberal factions favor some over others.

Asymmetrical Warfare: This is a list of strategies or issues that supercede any policy issue when confronting Donald Trump. With Trump, branding and image are everything, lying is habitual, exaggeration is common and facts don’t matter.

Topics to Avoid: These are the hot-button, divisive topics I think Democrats should avoid. These are the buttons Republicans, Russian trolls, Trump, and even the media will bring up to create controversy. This was the main problem with the July Democratic debates, The questions were designed to create controversy and pit Democrat against Democrat. While some argue that the goal was to highlight differences between the candidates, I urge to not take the bait; highlight your differences without turning this into an internecine war.

Below is the top 20 topics for Independents:

1. Deficit is $22 trillion. The national debt has increased 2 trillion since Trump took office. Where is the Tea Party now?
2. Tariffs= a TAX on American businesses and citizens. Republicans used to be for free trade.
3. Allies over Dictators. It is not America First, it is America alone and Russia and China benefit from our isolationism.
4. Democrats will have to fix all the problems the Republicans have caused (e.g., Deficit, Tariffs, Allies, Iran, North Korea, farmers). List them every debate.
5. Healthcare: Democrat want to increase access, protect pre-existing conditions, and reduce costs. Keep it at that. Anything else is too complicated and a losing battle against fact-free Trump.
6. Subsidies to farmers is socialism, politically-motivated and unfair to the millions of retail employees who have lost their jobs. That business will never come back; permanent welfare state.
7. Infrastructure. Trump promised an infrastructure bill and did nothing.
8. Trump never takes responsibility for anything. He is the Scapegoater-in-Chief.
9. Moscow Mitch; he is putting party over country. Trump is an agent of Putin, either explicitly or implicitly. Russia and China are benefitting from Trumps incompetence and gullibility.
10. Education: Focus on Pre-K and 2-year college (not free college).
11. Pro-Union; Republicans want to lower your wages and bust unions.
12. Trump is profiting from the White House: golf courses, Trump hotel.
13. Getting back to normal. Minimal tweets. Stop hate speech and fear mongering. The Presidency is not a reality show for ratings.
14. Immigration: Children in cages; Dreamers.
15. Climate Change / Paris Agreement / gutting the EPA.
16. North Korea; Trump is being played for a fool.
17. White Nationalism; fomenting fear and hate.
18. Trump is poisoning our air and water for corporate profits (EPA, deregulation). He will blame everyone but himself.
19. Common sense gun laws; taking action against gun violence.
20. Shaming the US Intelligence agencies

What do you think of the list? I would recommend focusing on the top 5-10. Keep it simple!

List for Liberals. Notice the difference. The top liberal issues don’t even make the top 20 independent list.

1. The Supreme Court and Federal Judges.
2. Climate Change / Paris Agreement / gutting the EPA.
3. Freedom to choose (Pro-Choice) (related to judges above).
4. Healthcare: Democrats want to increase access, protect pre-existing conditions, and reduce costs. Keep it at that. Anything else is too complicated and a losing battle against fact-free Trump.
5. Democrats will have to fix all the problems the Republicans have caused (e.g., Deficit, Tariffs, Allies, Iran, North Korea, farmers)
6. Trump is simply a horrible human being. Trump’s inherent amorality and immorality
7. White Nationalism; fomenting fear and hate.
8. Cabinet of Incompetents: Betsy DeVos, Ben Carson.
9. Trump is profiting from the White House: golf courses, Trump hotel.
10. Immigration: Children in cages; Dreamers
11. Common sense gun laws; taking action against gun violence.
12. Allies over Dictators. It is not America First, it is America alone and Russia and China benefit from our isolationism.
13. Getting back to normal. Minimal tweets. Stop hate speech. The Presidency is not a reality show for ratings.
14. Trump never takes responsibility for anything. He is the Scapegoater-in-Chief.
15. Trump is poisoning our air and water for corporate profits (EPA, deregulation). He will blame everyone but himself.
16. Tariffs = a TAX on American businesses and citizens. Republicans used to be for free trade.
17. The deficit is $22 trillion. The national debt has increased 2 trillion since Trump took office. Where is the Tea Party now?
18. Infrastructure. Trump promised an infrastructure bill and did nothing.
19. Cadet bone-spurs; Trump is the Coward-in-Chief.
20. Income Inequality (Top 1%) / Wall Street / Min. Wage.

There is some overlap but the differences are significant. The smartest strategy would be to focus on the topics both independents and liberals agree on:

1. Getting back to normal. Minimal tweets. Stop hate speech. The Presidency is not a reality show for ratings.
2. Allies over Dictators. It is not America First, it is America alone and Russia and China benefit from our isolationism.
3. Democrats will have to fix all the problems the Republicans have caused (e.g., Deficit, Tariffs, Allies, Iran, North Korea, farmers)
4. Trump never takes responsibility for anything. He is the Scapegoater-in-Chief.
5. Trump is simply a horrible human being. Trump’s inherent amorality and immorality
6. Healthcare: Democrats want to increase access, protect pre-existing conditions, and reduce costs. Keep it at that. Anything else is too complicated and a losing battle against fact-free Trump.
7. Tariffs = a TAX on American businesses and citizens. Republicans used to be for free trade.
8. The deficit is $22 trillion. The national debt has increased 2 trillion since Trump took office. Where is the Tea Party now?
9. Infrastructure. Trump promised an infrastructure bill and did nothing.
10. Climate Change / Paris Agreement / gutting the EPA.

This is a sorted, ranked list so again, focus on the top five more than the bottom five.

The next list is topics I recommending avoiding. Some of them are also on my top twenty lists above; point out the main differences between the Democrats and Republicans (Trump) without spending too much time on the details. Remember that Trump won the presidency despite knowing little about government, losing all the debates, and stoking fear and hate. Detailed policies can become a distraction and fodder for Trump and the Republicans.

1. Avoid complicated, wonky arguments (against Trump)
2. Avoid fighting among fellow Democrats.
3. LGBT Issues; there are more important issues; too divisive; ammunition for conservatives.
4. White-Nationalist in Chief; identity politics.
5. Income Inequality (Top 1%) / Wall Street / Min. Wage. This topic should not lead every Democratic debate, discussion and news cycle.
6. Medicare for All. Too divisive. Too complicated.
7. Free four-year college for everyone. Too expensive.
8. Paying off all student debt. Too expensive.
9. Minimum wage ($15). Focus on fixes for income inequality and the failure of “trickle-down economics.”
10. Immigration: Children in cages; Dreamers.

I’m sure there will be arguments against many of the topics above. The point here is that neither liberal nor moderate should argue against reducing the debt, stopping tariffs, or focusing on allies versus dictators. Long debates concerning raising the minimum wage will turn off as many as it will attract.

Many of the more controversial topics can be addressed after the Democrats win back the presidency.