(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . It’s time for VP Harris and Democrats to take back the immigration narrative [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-09-19 In his final speech, Ronald Reagan gave a speech about the value of immigration. It was possibly one of the only good things that he did. https://youtu.be/2R8QxCD6ir8?si=6l-hhFRrWblOju4k While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America we breathe life into dreams. We create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow. Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we're a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost. … It is bold men and women, yearning for freedom and opportunity, who leave their homelands and come to a new country to start their lives over. They believe in the American dream. And over and over, they make it come true for themselves, for their children, and for others. Democrats have somehow turned away from making this affirmative case, and it is now metastasizing into something truly heinous with the fuel being pored in by the Trump campaign, who think it is likely their only fertile territory. However, Democrats can turn it around and use this as the opportunity to regain the righteous upper hand. But first, we have to take a quick look back at how we got here. Due to a political miscalculation, President Biden and Democrats, led by Sen Chris Murphy, decided that they wanted to outflank Republicans on immigration by appeasing them. This took the form of negotiating what, amazingly, Democrats call “the most conservative immigration bill ever”. The intent was to use the immigration issue as a negotiating chip for Ukraine funding. Those two things should never have been linked when you have a party that can’t be trusted on the other side. As expected, the GOP reneged, but they still took their win on immigration and decided it would be their core campaign issue. This has now come full circle, and the exact risk highlighted by immigration advocates when the initial move was made has come home to roost. Fast forward to today. By hook or by crook, the Trump Vance campaign has been able to take over the media narrative by injecting a crazy statement into the news cycle and then pivoting to their real issue of the “downsides” of immigration, while Democrats are stunned by how they were able to accomplish this, as if it were a magic trick. But it’s not, it standard operating procedure. Spoiler Alert: It’s not. Caravans, kids acting like cats, trans kids overrunning sports, CRT, schools forcing kids to have operations, doctors killing babies after birth, pedophiles at pizza restaurants, Haitians eating pets. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. This year’s conspiracy theory du jour has gotten even more dangerous. It has resulted in Proud Boys and the KKK marching in Springfield. The far-right Proud Boys descended on Springfield, Ohio, as Donald Trump doubled down on his promise to visit the town at the center of pet-eating rumors. Members of the group were spotted marching amid reports that the KKK has been distributing recruitment leaflets in a town that has been hit by a wave of bomb threats directed at schools and colleges. Where have we seen that before and what was the result? (Charlottesville). Provocation is the plan and Democrats better be prepared. Just last night, Trump fully pulled off the mask and said he will remove all black and brown immigrants people from the country. Not all immigrants, black and brown immigrants. That’s not hyperbole, that’s his words. They’re coming from the Congo. They’re coming from Africa. They’re coming from the Middle East. They’re coming from all over the world, Asia…we’re just destroying the fabric of life in our country. Give me a shot, you’ll have a safe NY within 3 months. In real time, we are watching the great replacement theory get promoted on television, print, and social media with virtually no active push back. Instead, the focus is about fact checking an absolutely idiotic claim, rooted in similar historical idiotic claims about immigrants, fully intended to dehumanize fellow human beings. Large swaths of the media have no idea how to respond. I literally just heard Jonathan Lemire blame Kamala Harris for Trump driving the national narrative because she isn’t doing interviews (she does interviews every day so that’s a lie) and moving on with no comment after showing video of JD Vance say Kamala Harris signed off on mass parole of Haitians which allowed 100,000 Haitians into the country (another lie). Knowing how media works, this will be the messaging all day. And worse, significant swaths of the media agree with Trump and aren’t using omission or lack of fact checks to push Trump’s messaging. Furthermore, it is transitioning to the general media reinforcing GOP messaging. Everytime this story comes up, reporters are saying “well there are real issues with the immigrants, but no dead pets”. Well, there are also issue with climate and home insurance, corporate price gouging, and women bleeding out in parking lots. Given this case, my question is why do Harris supporting media and influencers keep amplifying the pets lie on this site and beyond It serves no purpose without support from the campaign. It is not about the pets. It’s about the underlying hateful theme and the media simply isn’t nuanced enough to navigate this. Given this case, my question is why do Harris supporting media and influencers keep amplifying the pets lie on this site and beyond It serves no purpose without support from the campaign. If Democrats are deciding that they don’t want to fight back and do the media’s job for them, use the time and energy to promote Harris and the impact she will make on people’s lives. Tell an affirmative story and take back the narrative. Trump and Vance are getting way too much earned media for their lies. Now, due to a failure of the media, including this site to an extent, we may now be at the point of swift boat attacks. Given the level of focus, you have to assume the Trump campaign is seeing results in their polling in terms of driving enthusiasm. And outside polling is confirming. The Scripps News/Ipsos survey’s findings come as former President Trump and his allies have intensely focused on immigration in the 2024 election cycle. About 54 percent of respondents — 86 percent of Republicans, 58 percent of independents and 25 percent of Democrats — said they “strongly” or “somewhat” support a wide-scale effort to deport millions of immigrants, and 59 percent said they are closely following the “immigration situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.” Ignoring the issue may be impossible as Democrats put it front and center last winter. The 25% of Democrats supporting mass deportation shows the miscalculation in living color. And if that is the case, there is another option, especially with a likely persuadable group of independents. Do not let them find their way into a long term attack or immigration discussion. Counter attack. My recommendation is to run into the fire. Go big and fight back!! You have a ton of Reagan Republicans endorsing VP Harris. You have a real threat to communities across the country, particularly Springfield. You have the hearts and minds of the majority of the public. If I were the campaign, I would take the opportunity to have VP Harris give the 21st century version of the Reagan speech. And I would do it in Springfield, surrounded by the community member being attacked. In the speech, go big with an “Only in America” theme. Discuss the history of American immigration Discuss the value of legal immigration and the contribution of undocumented workers over time, and why our model has set America’s economy apart Discuss the ramifications of mass deportation to communities and the economy Discuss how immigrants become part of the society and how their children become vigorous advocates for the ideals of America and serve the community as entrepreneurs or public servants And connect it back to why only in America, can someone with that background be the party nominee for President. It can be a moment to continue introducing VP Harris while loudly promoting the American Dream. President Obama tackled a tough issue on race in the midst of his campaign, and it became a signature moment. This may be the signature moment for VP Harris. We are either going to let hate and misogyny regain the halls of power, or we are going to fight for what makes this country great, warts and all. I believe VP Kamala Harris is ready to take on the fight with us. And when we fight, we win. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/9/19/2271416/-It-s-time-for-VP-Harris-and-Democrats-to-take-back-the-immigration-narrative?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/