Trump's base turnout strategy is also a base expansion strategy


If there's one thing mainstream-media pundits agree on, it's that Donald Trump's GOP has given up trying to appeal to anyone outside of the president's base. In an earlier era of American politics, one would expect the Republican nominee to pivot toward the center of the ideological spectrum in the general election. Instead, the Republican National Convention spent its opening night following a base-mobilization strategy in which speakers and videos spoke to the keenest fears of Trump voters. And this, we are told, is a sign of a dysfunctional campaign and party that's setting itself up for a big loss in November.
But there's another possibility. What if, instead of adjusting his message to appeal to people who are currently inclined to vote for Joe Biden, Trump is trying to persuade these voters to change their minds and come to him? What if, rather than treating voter preferences as static and adjusting his message to match them, Trump is trying to convince voters that their current preferences are out of sync with reality?
What if Trump is trying to expand his base not by moderating his positions but by radicalizing the electorate?
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
That's what the relentlessly ominous message of Monday night was all about. Trump is telling a story that is very scary but that makes perfect sense of rapidly accumulating accounts of riots and violent crime in cities across the country: Urban progressivism has wrecked Seattle and Chicago and Denver and New York — and if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take over in January, the chaos and violence will come right to your doorstep. If you give them a chance to govern, your neighborhood will soon look just like Portland.
We don't know yet if the message will work. Reality is, of course, more complicated, and Trump is doing plenty to inflame the tensions himself. But we should recognize the attempt for what it is: An effort to turn a larger share of the electorate into Trump voters.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.
-
Groypers: the alt-right group pulled into the foreground
The Explainer The group is led by alt-right activist Nick Fuentes
-
10 concert tours to see this upcoming fall
The Week Recommends Concert tour season isn't over. Check out these headliners.
-
How to put student loan payments on pause
The Explainer If you are starting to worry about missing payments, deferment and forbearance can help
-
Graphic videos of Charlie Kirk’s death renew debate over online censorship
Talking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
Trump's drug war is now a real shooting war
Talking Points The Venezuela boat strike was 'not a mere law enforcement action'
-
Truck drivers are questioning the Trump administration's English mandate
Talking Points Some have praised the rules, others are concerned they could lead to profiling
-
Gavin Newsom's Trump-style trolling roils critics while thrilling fans
TALKING POINTS The California governor has turned his X account into a cutting parody of Trump's digital cadence, angering Fox News conservatives
-
Costco is at the center of an abortion debate
Talking Points The decision to no longer stock the abortion pill came following a pressure campaign by conservatives
-
What does occupying Gaza accomplish for Israel?
Talking Points Risking a 'strategic dead-end' in the fight against Hamas
-
Ghislaine Maxwell: angling for a Trump pardon
Talking Point Convicted sex trafficker's testimony could shed new light on president's links to Jeffrey Epstein
-
Does depopulation threaten humanity?
Talking Points Falling birth rates could create a 'smaller, sadder, poorer future'