Dear Mr. President: If You Want to Win in November, This Is What You Must Do!

An Open Letter

Mr. Donald J. Trump

U.S. President, January 2017 – January 2021

Presidential Candidate, Republican Party, 2024

Dear Mr. President:

First, add my voice to those who are grateful to God you survived the attempt on your life last month, and for the heroic images still burned into our minds of you rising, blood on your face, fist in the air, telling your supporters to “fight! fight! fight!”

It’s going to take more than that, though, Mr. President. Do you want to win back your rightful place in the White House? I know you do. At least that’s my working assumption here, that you don’t want the empty pantsuit the Democrat Party is running against you to get anywhere near the Oval Office. Many of us voted for you twice and will vote for you a third time.

Myself, I’m based outside the country these days. I hope and pray you won’t hold that against me. A group of us left during the Obama years, convinced that post-financial-crisis Federal Reserve policy was going to collapse the dollar. Didn’t happen, of course, but it still could. I don’t think our ideas were wrong, just our timetable. I maintain a U.S. address, and there’s a chance my wife and I could return to the U.S. during your second term. But you need to be elected first, and that’s why I’m here.

If you want to win Election 2024, the first thing you must do is get on message. This is what your supporters are praying you’ll do, and fast!

If your message is about the economy, obviously a major voter concern, all you have to do is ask your audiences these age-old questions: “Are you better off than you were four years ago? Or are you paying an average of around 20 percent more for everything, with some of your costs absolutely skyrocketing?”

Most people think with their pocketbooks/bank accounts. A lot of people of our age range (you’re 78, I turn 67 in six days! yikes!) are struggling as prices rise faster than incomes. I know you know this.

Inflation is a worldwide phenomenon, as I’m sure you also know, because of how central banks across the world follow the Fed’s every move.

To parry the fake news corporate media claim that “inflation is coming down,” all you have to do is note that all this means is that prices aren’t rising quite as fast this month as they were last month. Everything is still getting more expensive, with no end in sight.

If paid “economists” and “economics writers” told the truth, they’d lose their jobs, of course.

To make these points likely to resonate with over a hundred million voters right away, you don’t need to talk about immigration, about the last election, or about January 6, or any of those other things, however tempting.

You don’t even have to say anything about Kamala Harris specifically, just to make this point about the inflationary economy of the Biden years and asking people if this is what they want to continue.

A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Naomi Wolf penned an article on her Substack I think you’ll find useful. In case you’re not familiar with her, she’s an author who was once a Democrat Party consultant (and an arch-feminist). She has a mind now, but remembers clearly how those people think. She’s worth consulting for sound advice, getting on message and informing your voters of the actual benefits of a second Donald Trump presidency.

Here’s her most important points (not word for word, I’ve shortened them considerably):

(1)   You have to appeal to voters outside your base. It’s in the math: there just aren’t enough MAGA Republicans, especially not in swing states you need to win in order to win the election. You have to show how you will follow through on something you said during your speech to Republicans at their National Convention, that you’ll be a president for all Americans.

In this context, take note of how bad homelessness has gotten. It’s the worst of my lifetime. Maybe the worst since the Great Depression. Its cause: skyrocketing rentals and mortgages! (Watch this. It’s worth every minute of the 1:40 of your time it will take to get through it.)  Many of these people have jobs and aren’t on drugs, though of course, some are. Their biggest pain point is that they can’t find jobs that pay enough for a mortgage, or rent. Because of inflation, a lot of people — including a lot of recent college graduates — can’t afford to move out of their parents’ homes. Many Americans in our general age bracket are one health emergency away from having to live in their cars, or even die of a treatable condition.

Probably most of these folks aren’t MAGA Republicans. Heck, they might be Democrats. You can appeal to them by showing what the policies of globalism and leftism have done to their lives, and then tell them confidently that you can fix this.  

(2)   Be more conscious of how your messaging is likely to be received. Criticizing Kamala Harris for how she self-identifies (Indian and Jamaican) is not a winning strategy. She’s far more vulnerable for what she’s done (or hasn’t done) than who she is.

Among the things she did was help hide Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, all the way up to the infamous debate of June 27. She, her staff, and the entire Democrat apparatus gaslit the public about this for almost four years, indicating something you can say to voters that may have a lot more persuasive power: she and the people she’s surrounded herself with are dishonest to the core of their being, and shouldn’t be trusted with the reins of power in this country!

Among the things she didn’t do is help to secure America’s Southern border. I’ll return to this.

Likewise, avoid doing what Hillary did in 2016 and write off half the voting population with something akin to her “basket of deplorables” remark.

That was an epic-level mistake and probably cost her the election.   

In this context, I would also lay off criticizing anyone’s military service. Make this off limits! Cease any and all remarks interpretable as anti-Veteran. There are millions of Veterans in America. They’ll not get mad, they’ll get even — by voting for your opponent!

(3)   Besides these specific evidence-based claims, cease all personal attacks. Dr. Wolf observes how you claimed Willie Brown had “said terrible things about [Harris].” I hear this from some conservatives: she “slept her way to the top.” Don’t do this! For one thing, nobody really knows, any more than anyone knows what really happened between you and what’s-her-name (the porn star), if anything. For another, it’s tasteless. You’re above this. Paraphrasing Naomi still, it sounds like the sort of thing a grumpy old man would say and plays into the hands of surly Democrat women who go on and on about The Patriarchy. You don’t need any more of this baggage weighing you down. As Naomi asks, “Why even go there?” You gain nothing, and with some leftists still prattling about the Hollywood Access tape, and with E. Jean Carroll, you have too much to lose.

(4)   Focus on conservative first principles. I can help you: go here and here.

Now I don’t like the idea of biological men in women’s sports any more than you do, nor do I think that “gender affirming care” or “puberty blockers” for minors is something any conservative ought to countenance, but as Dr. Wolf points out, you’re talking about something that only affects a minority of voters.

There may be gays or lesbians, or even “trans” types, who claim to be Christian, moreover. I know that’s incoherent, but it’s also not a problem facing most voters, and so doesn’t have to be one of your problems. Again, don’t go there! Some of these folks may even be let-us-live-our-lives-and-be-left-alone libertarian types. That puts them more on your side, as people who would be better off under a Donald Trump presidency. Let their personal lifestyle choices go if they’re not hurting anybody. Remember, you’re running for president, not moral policeman. Delegate these things to us, out here.

For the same reasons, I’d leave the abortion issue aside to the greatest extent I could. It’s not a winning issue for conservative Republicans right now because the abortion death cult is simply too strong and has captured too many suburban women who might otherwise be willing to vote for you if they think you’ll do better with the economy. We’re not going to stop the abortion death cult with a Supreme Court decision or with legislation, anyway. This will be a tough nut to crack, and all I can say here is it’s not about economics or politics but is about what you believe is true, morally and spiritually, and this can’t be forced on anyone. We’re not even close to being able to have that kind of conversation right now, so again all I can suggest is to leave it aside unless someone else brings it up.  

(5)   Use surrogates. Dr. Wolf’s way of putting it. Remember Joe the Plumber? Surrogates are ordinary people doing ordinary things, but carrying your message. The point is, they’re relatable. Whether we like it or not, Kamala Harris is doing this. Naomi mentions someone named Megan Thee Stallion. I never heard of her, but I’m no expert on pop culture fads which I find as annoying as you probably do, but they’re there and there’s nothing you can do about them except counter them with a few of your own. There are people out there: actors, athletes, country music singers. You have Elon Musk on board, but he’s also being attacked because of his international-level free speech advocacy, so he’s not going to be enough.  

I hate to say it, Mr. President, but there are people out there who like most of what you stand for but they don’t like you. I know I’m taking a chance just putting this in here, but again, it is what it is, and it’s another reason why you need more ordinary, relatable people selling your message to reluctant voters about the benefits of a second Trump presidency. The last thing you want to do is push people away.

(6)   Honor the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). Not that any of us, your voters, are stupid. What we are is fed up with the status quo and its false narratives, it’s why we turned to you in the first place. You don’t have to be MAGA to be fed up (look at the support Bernie Sanders had). Moreover, too many voters are too busy trying to survive to process long, involved messages. What are we talking about here?

Obama had a zinger: “Change you can believe in.”

Bill Clinton: “It’s the economy, stupid.”

Ronald Reagan (lest you think Democrats have a monopoly on this sort of thing): “It’s morning in America.”

One of these, if well timed and aimed, can take out an opponent. Remember “Where’s the beef?” Hardly anybody remembers who Gary Hart even is.

I know you had Make America Great Again, and while it worked in 2016 it’s not resonating today if only because it’s been around too long.

You could modify it to something like, Make America Affordable Again! I wish I could take credit for it, but again it’s Dr. Wolf’s. It refers back to the economy and again the number one concern of most voters.

Then repeat, and repeat, and repeat some more. That’s how Democrats are being effective with their hit jobs; when they want to attack you all they have to say is convicted felon and when they want to attack J.D. Vance they say childless cat ladies, or weird.

This stuff resonates, and that’s the point!

You need a new mantra, and if I were a paid consultant, the one above is the one I’d go with even if it isn’t original with me. But you be the judge.

(7)   There are a few other things I’d like to get in here, some from a list Dr. Wolf cites from the Republican Platform which didn’t seem to impress her all that much (there are 20 planks in it, for one thing, and that’s waaaaay too many!).

Promise to end the flood of illegal migrants into the country. But be careful how you pursue this, because crime stats don’t really back up the claim that migrants commit more violent crimes than native-born Americans. You can highlight a few incidents, especially by repeat offenders, that wouldn’t have happened without Joe Biden’s having thrown the border back open, and then you’re in a position to expose Kamala Harris’s utter incompetence as “border czar” (whatever that was).

What you can do is note how illegal migrants from places like the Middle East conceivably place Americans at risk. No one seems to know for sure who these people are or where they’re from or what groups they may be involved in. Hezbollah? I don’t know, either, and that’s the point! This in addition to how many do not speak English, cannot truly assimilate into American society therefore, and cannot possibly identify with America’s founding principles.

Besides, no one has ever seen a multicultural society work. They always eventually blow apart, especially if there’s a perception of one ethnic group getting government freebies at the expense of another group.

No more outsourcing of jobs to cheap labor countries. Goes hand in hand with the now-obviously-false narrative that globalization will make us all prosperous. Instead, turn the U.S. back into a manufacturing superpower!

Make America the dominant energy producer in the world. Note that America was on our way to energy independence under your watch. Then, when Biden got in office, one of the first things he did was shut down work on the Keystone Pipeline and kill 10,000 jobs overnight … other jobs as well, if they involved serving those people.

This goes hand in hand with restoring America’s manufacturing base, which would create thousands upon thousands more good-paying jobs. This, with the right training programs, might get people off the streets and out of homeless shelters.

A few others quickly, Mr. President:

Defend our Constitution and Bill of Rights, including Free Speech, Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Religion, and all the rest. Do this unequivocally.

End motor-voter registration, and establish ID requirements as a condition of voting. Americans need to prove their identity for practically everything else, so why not this as well? Goes without saying, this will greatly reduce the risk of fraud!

Pledge to end sending resources to Ukraine and Israel to bankroll their wars when those resources are urgently needed inside U.S. borders.

Remind people that you won’t touch Social Security or Medicare.

I could go on, Mr. President, but you get the idea. As far as I can tell, based on my correspondence, these are the issues that will be on voters’ minds this fall, and on more than just MAGA minds. These are the people outside your base you have to convince to vote for you. Since you’re a master salesman, Mr. President, you know that people buy benefits, not features. You have to sell them on the benefits of a second Trump term in the White House …

You were going mostly in the right direction before covid hit. Inflation, as I remember, was negligible. So now, appeal to a future of good-paying jobs, low inflation, prosperity, abundance, safe schools, safe neighborhoods, migration limited to those who do it legally.

Summing up:

This messaging strategy should go further than just implanting in voters’ minds the fear of what could happen if a lifelong, bona fide DEI appointee and cultural Marxist gets into the White House. It would be, as I said last week, presidency-by-committee.

Please think about these things, Mr. President, and best wishes, because time is running out! According to my count you have exactly 77 days left to get this right, and show voters what you can do for your country.  

            Yours sincerely,

Steven Yates, PhD

           Professional writer and supporter of yours presently living in Chile (where we have problems of our own with radical left lunatics).

_________________________

Steven Yates is a (still recovering) ex-academic with a PhD in Philosophy. He taught for more than 15 years total at several universities in the Southeastern U.S. He authored three books, more than 20 articles, numerous book reviews, and review essays in academic journals and anthologies. Refused tenure and unable to obtain full-time academic employment (and with an increasing number of very fundamental philosophical essays refused publication in journals), he turned to alternative platforms and heretical notions, including about academia itself. In 2012 he moved to Chile. He is married to a Chilean national. 

He has a Patreon.com page. Donate here and become a Patron if you benefit from his work and believe it merits being sustained financially.

Steven Yates’s book Four Cardinal Errors: Reasons for the Decline of the American Republic (2011) can be ordered here.

His philosophical work What Should Philosophy Do? A Theory (2021) can be obtained here or here.

His paranormal horror novel The Shadow Over Sarnath (2023) can be gotten here.

Should you purchase any (or all) books from Amazon, please consider leaving a five-star review (if you think they merit such).