Why should you care about Rural Americans United's Districtwide Media Campaign! Have you wondered how a small minority of far-right or MAGA Republicans can be everywhere all at once? Ever wonder why Republicans seem to always have the quotes in the media? And more importantly, do you ever wonder why Democrats don’t? At the most basic level, a far-right Republican will NEVER think that the time is never right to speak up or that it is not the time to voice their opinion. We, as Democrats, are at risk of losing relevance in Central Washington. We can reverse this by taking bold actions and raising our game to meet the far-right head on. We will not resort to intimidation and bullying, but we will leverage the tools that bring Democratic representation and relevance to a community; increasing representation initially through media outreach. . A Master Class in media manipulation from far-right Republicans Read further to better understand why Rural American United’s district wide media campaign is essential to stopping the erasing of Democrats in Central Washington from the public record and public conscience.
Walmartgate: A successful media campaign starts by creating or seizing on buzz. Buzz gets people excited and media outlets are ready to publish content that touches a breadth of viewers and continues the story across different dimensions that touch on emotion and intellect. Most importantly, it should have an ending. Walmartgate had it all! Buzz: A golden opportunity arose for the far-right fanatics. Our elected officials doing what they are supposed to do inadvertently created a hook for the far-right to twist into a painful lie that played all too well to their base. Phone calls, social media and blog posts started popping up and there was a buzz. It is important to note that the spark that ignited it was from far-right petitioners outside of Walmart. It was just a short jump to get clown college dropout Tim Eyman on board to capture the jaded hearts of the media and turn the volume up even further. This egregious attack from the far-right was opportunistic, but fully in line with the MAGA strategy that relies on highly visible intimidation and bullying with their goal being total submission and retreat, which essentially erases Democrats. Diversify the topic and introduce critical take aways: Sara Kate, writer for the Walla Walla Union Bulletin, managed to land a Sunday front page article unashamedly titled “The fabric of Republican politics is changing Central and Eastern Washington”. Despite there being Republicans in Walla Walla, the writer chose to give most time to Yakima City Council Member Matt Brown. The article was about Republicans without input from Democrats. Democrats were erased. https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/government/elections/the-fabric-of-republican-politics-in-central-and-eastern-wa-is-changing/article_0864d010-e158-53c6-ad89-15e0de736ca2.html The most brilliant ending: What was the most significant point the Republicans wanted to make? Remember the petitioners I mentioned earlier that created the spark that lit the fuse? Well, the most recent article was written by Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times. This article solidified the legitimacy of the petitioners because they are backed by $5 million. https://www.yakimaherald.com/opinion/column-dumb-money-a-redmond-man-bets-5-million-on-resurrecting-the-state-gop/article_1226cde2-c429-541b-a198-e4139c0bb1d9.html This media campaign went full circle from scandalous petitioners to pillars of the community that are working to restore the integrity of Washington State with the very clear intent of erasing Democrats. I find the far-right’s methods reprehensible, but their strategy has been highly effective in occupying much of rural America, controlling two-thirds of State Houses and erasing Democrats from rural community consciousness. What have Republicans done differently than Democrats? They speak up everywhere all at once and the media listens!