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Top GOP presidential candidates will swarm to Wisconsin for their first-of-cycle primary debate. [1]
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Date: 2023-07-31
In 23 days, top GOP presidential candidates will swarm to Wisconsin for their first-of-cycle primary debate.
Help us beat their lies with truth.
The GOP didn’t pick Wisconsin out of a hat when it chose the location of its first primary debate. They chose the state where they most urgently need to bamboozle the public about what’s going on. Because as goes Wisconsin, so goes the nation.
x Why is the GOP so obsessed? Because Wisconsin is the Electoral College tipping point.
Here’s what that means. This picture lines up states by the Dems’ 2020 victory margin, from biggest win to biggest loss. Each state is numbered by its number of Electoral College votes. pic.twitter.com/lFQ2SYZukR — Ben Wikler (@benwikler) April 30, 2023
It’s not just the presidential primary debate. Last week, the Republican National Committee announced that it was doing an about-face, and finally embracing early voting and absentee ballots. Guess which state they chose to pilot this focus?
x NEW: @GOP tells reporters on a call they are launching a "Bank Your Vote" effort aimed at encouraging early voting. Wisconsin will be the first state in which it's implemented.
Over the past decade, Wisconsin Republicans had moved to limit early voting. — A.J. Bayatpour (@AJBayatpour) July 24, 2023
Needless to say, it’s breathtaking hypocrisy in a party that tried everything possible to suppress or even toss out early and absentee ballots.
x After years of lying about safe and secure early voting, the @WisGOP is now making a cynical about-face. It won’t work.
Our full statement on the GOP’s early voting announcement: pic.twitter.com/EVAcINJYHN — Wisconsin Democrats (@WisDems) July 24, 2023
The first primary debate.
The Bank Your Vote program.
And next year, the Republican National Convention.
All in Wisconsin.
The GOP is laser-focused on winning Wisconsin.
And so are we.
The GOP presidential primary debate in Wisconsin will get coverage on local TV stations around the state. This is bad news: lies repeated by candidate after candidate will sink in… and start seeming true, even to people who know better.
The GOP’s Big Lie strategy can be infuriating. But it rests on solid social science. Specifically, what’s known as the Illusory Truth Effect: the more you hear something, the more likely you are to believe that it’s true, even if you have contrary knowledge.
x Everyone on social media should know about the Illusory Truth Effect
If you see something repeated enough times, it seems more true. Multiple studies show that it works on 85% of people. Worse, it still happens even if the information isn't plausible & even if you know better. pic.twitter.com/oX6Cl4uaRR — Ethan Mollick (@emollick) October 30, 2022
This can be a problem in all areas of life… but it’s massively damaging in political campaigns. And it points up the risks the country will face in coming months from the Republican presidential primary—because a boat-load of lies is about to be repeated ad nauseam.
Take the economy, for example. Inflation is falling sharply, wages are up, jobs are plentiful, and most people say their own financial situation is good… but only 10% of Republicans rate Biden positively on the economy.
Small wonder. There’s a constant flood of negative coverage of economic news and predictions of impending disaster from politically motivated right-wing sources—the very places (Fox News, talk radio, Facebook posts) where most conservatives get their news.
We saw the same story with Trumpian election denial.
With COVID.
And with the GOP’s arguments around abortion that have no connection to reality—like their claims that rape can’t lead to pregnancy, or that child pregnancies must be hoaxes.
We’re now in the midst of a GOP presidential primary campaign in which Republicans will repeat, repeat, and further repeat a pack of lies in order to flatter the false beliefs of their most extreme supporters and grab the nomination.
It’s going into high gear in Wisconsin.
The misinformation that is already rife in the primaries will just ratchet up. Which means we can’t wait until next fall to fight back. We need to talk to voters—here and everywhere—now with the real story of what’s happening.
The research on defeating lies demonstrates that the right move isn’t to repeat the lie and then debunk it. It’s to lead with the truth.
And that’s exactly what we’re doing at WisDems. We’re building networks of local leaders who can spread the truth—all the way through November 2024.
Networks of trusted messengers that can amplify accurate information through social media channels to their own communities is one of our most powerful tactics. But it takes time and resources to build. Can you help by chipping in?
The WisDems model of organizing year-round is one of the most effective in the country. Two weeks ago, in a gerrymandered R+24 assembly district, we narrowed that gap to R+7.2. 20,000 door knocks by Dems—in a race where just over 12,000 ballots were cast.
x The GOP held this Assembly seat in a special election today, but this is another data point showing the shifts in the suburban WOW counties of Wisconsin. The district was Trump +24 in 2016, Trump +17 in 2020, and Melotik (the GOP candidate) +7 today.
https://t.co/FeMDBM7zKx pic.twitter.com/d8z6sMor8K — Anthony Chergosky (@achergosky) July 19, 2023
When we organize together, we win together. That takes year-round support from grassroots donors.
A group of WisDems members at the 2023 Convention.
Green County Democrats tabling.
A county party marches for Fourth of July.
Our end-of-month fundraising push ends at midnight tonight. We’re aiming to enlist help from 100 donors by then. Your help would make a huge difference for us. Click here to chip in!
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