One of the perennial leftist media columns is about how to talk to your knuckle-dragging MAGA uncle at Thanksgiving, which is weird since leftists hate Thanksgiving because it celebrates American power, plenty, and prosperity while implying the existence of a God that is not the government, but that’s another thing. They are very into having college sophomores back home from the University of College attempt to educate people who haven’t had the benefit of just completing a little more than a year of undergraduate work and who, instead, have to rely on decades of life experience to form their views. But the left is right about one thing. You need to go out and help friends, neighbors, and family come to the right conclusion on Election Day.
The right conclusion is to vote for Donald Trump and JD Vance and every Republican on the ballot.
Let me give you a little legal insight as a special Townhall VIP bonus. I convince people of things for a living. That’s what trial lawyers do. Sometimes, it’s a judge, but often, it’s a jury, and they don’t know me at all before I step up to the podium. Actually, I don’t usually use the podium. I typically pace in front of the jury box like a caged tiger unless the judge tells me to use the podium, in which case I use the podium.
So, how do I convince a bunch of people who don’t know me, who probably don’t like me because I’m a lawyer, and who probably don’t want to be sitting in a courtroom but are doing it anyway because they are patriotic and believe jury duty is something a citizen does?
I treat them as what they usually are: well-meaning human beings who come in with their own life experiences and prejudices. They generally want to get it right, and most of the normal people you will encounter in your life generally want to get it right when it comes to voting. Despite our institutions’ myriad failures and the disastrous governance we’ve experienced over recent decades, most Americans still want the best for this country and try to vote wisely. This advice on persuasion is directed towards convincing them.
It is not directed towards convincing lunatic Democrat partisans, who are too stupid or obnoxious or evil, or some combination of the three, to be swayed by reason and facts. You are not going to convince an MSNBC addict of anything. Now, that person may or may not someday convince herself – a lot of them are women – but you won’t convince them. They already have a pre-existing prejudice against you. They think you’re a fascist monster dedicated to forcing women to give birth to the babies of criminals while also wanting those criminals not to go to jail. These are not rational people. These are not good people. These are bad people with stupid ideas, and you are wasting your breath trying to convince them of anything. Again, some of them may convince themselves to emerge from their dark cloud of communist idiocy, but they will only do that on their own. When they come to you, questioning their faith in Marxist trash, be gentle and polite and allow them to work through the issues. You won’t make them into true believers; the must do it themselves. Just welcome them when they have completed their journey.
But people with an open mind are possible recruits to patriotism, freedom, and Americanism. The first thing you need to understand when you’re trying to persuade somebody to think the way you think is that you can’t directly tell them what to think as if they are some sort of idiot because they don’t see things exactly your way. I can’t walk up to a jury and say something to the effect of, “Only a drooling moron wouldn’t understand that the defendant is liable in this case!” The person you’re talking to will stop thinking about the actual argument and start thinking about how you just insulted him. And then you have lost any chance to persuade.
Here’s something I’ve noticed about persuading people for a living and also about talking to others about Donald Trump. You are not going to convince anybody. You are not going to do the heavy lifting of changing their minds. Only the juror, or the voter in this case, can do that. They must convince themselves. You are not going to make that process happen. You are simply going to set the conditions for it to happen. And a key condition is seeing enough facts to make them reject their preconceived notions. It’s a hard sell to get someone to change their mind, but it can be done.
How? First of all, you’re going to demonstrate by your own attitude and actions that someone who supports Donald Trump is a happy person. This has the benefit of being true. We are generally pretty upbeat. Leftists are depressed, sad, and bitter. Many are weird looking. Have you seen the statistics showing that something like 2/3 of young aspiring cat women have been diagnosed with some sort of mental illness or disorder? Frankly, a lot of Democrats are nuts. They certainly put lunatics on a pedestal – why do you think they have such a bizarre love of transgender nonsense and the mutilation that goes along with it?
When I go in front of a jury or try to convince somebody of something politically, I’m a happy warrior. I’m smiling and enjoying myself as much as appropriate – obviously, if you have a lawsuit involving a tragedy, you’ll have to temper your emotional portrayal. But you want to show that person that if they take the step across the line to your side, they can be happy too. And I am happy. I’m on the side of freedom, prosperity, and America. Democrats are on the side of racial grievance, excusing crime, poverty, and submission to Third World potentates. They are miserable, and no normal person wants to be miserable.
You want to offer supporting facts where appropriate but don’t shove them down your audience’s throat. Don’t be a know-it-all. Try to state the facts clearly and reasonably objectively, though, of course, you will shade it some. We always emphasize the positive and minimize the negative. You want to provide them with information from which they can think and draw their own conclusions. I can’t emphasize it enough – when you try to force somebody to accept your conclusions, you are inviting them to be ornery and feisty. Nobody likes to be told what to do, except maybe Bulwark staffers in the bedroom, but that’s a different story. Genuinely open-minded people want to have something to think about. So, give them that.
Don’t be pushy. Don’t be rude. And don’t break the Alinksy rule that tells us that anything carried on too long becomes a drag. If they’re done talking about politics, stop talking about politics and talk about baseball, hunting, or any of the other things Tim Walz pretends to be into. Persuasion is a process; it is not like flipping a light switch. If you want somebody to come around genuinely and not merely superficially, your goal must be to help them see the truth over time.
That’s what I do. I tell them the truth and let them come to their own conclusions. Yes, I emphasize the good facts, and I certainly explain why the bad facts – every case has both good and bad facts – are not significant. But I don’t browbeat them. I don’t shout at them. I try to help them see it correctly, which is the same way as I do.
And I do a pretty good job of it. I’ve only been doing it for 30 years. But you only have to do it for about two more weeks. Trusted friends, neighbors, and family members are the best vehicle to convince a non-MAGA voter to come on over and vote for Donald Trump and the rest of the Republican ticket. So, don’t blow it by being a jerk – that’s for the college sophomores over turkey and mashed potatoes. Be like Fonzie. Be cool. And that’s the way you’ll persuade.
My super-secret email address is Kurt.Schlichter@townhall.com
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