America could use some mutual weirdness in politics!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

WEIRD

by Steve Fair

     I never set out to be weird. It was always other people who called me weird. ―Frank Zappa.

     Webster defines weird as: strange, extraordinary, odd, bizarre eccentric, queer or unusual.  Democrats are using the word ‘weird’ to describe President Trump and Vice-Presidential candidate J.D. Vance.  This is a deliberate shift from their painting Trump as ‘a fundamental threat to democracy.’  Seems that message was too complicated- and false- for most voters to absorb.    “Weird is a word regular people use in their everyday lives,” Democratic operative Martha McKenna claims.  A simple message for low information voters.   Three observations:

     First, weird isn’t always bad.   There is a difference between being creepy/strange weird and just being quirky or different than everyone else.  Very often, those branded ‘weird’ are creative, intelligent, innovative game changers.  Those weirdos refuse to follow the crowd, run with the pack, go with the flow or play the game.  Because of their non-conforming attitude, they change the world.  Jesus was branded ‘weird’ by the Pharisees.  Edison was considered quirky.  Mozart unorthodox and strange.  Zappa was a musical genius, but eccentric. What the world called ‘weird,’ God used to change the world.

     Second, the weird strategy is weird.  The Democratic Party has more unconventional, unorthodox people in it than the Republicans.  Biden’s Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, is openly gay.  Assistant Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine is transgender.  Many Americans, conservative and liberal, see their lifestyle as ‘weird.’     The risk of alienating like-minded voters by calling their views ‘weird,’ is one McKenna says Democrats are willing to take to win the election.   

     When a person uses the word ‘weird’ to describe another person, they are judging the values of that person as compared to their own- aka value judgment.  Democrats have said for years no one has the right to ‘value judge’ another, but they are practicing it by calling another’s values ‘weird.’   

     Third, calling Trump/Vance ‘weird’ avoids policy debate.  That is the real strategy.  Politicos of all stripes create a diversion when they can’t run on their track record. So, the opponent becomes ‘weird,’ and often the public buys it.  Google searches for ‘weird’ in association with MAGA/GOP/Vance are up +32% in the past week from three months ago, so curiosity is being piqued. 

     But the real end game of labeling Trump/Vance ‘weird’ is to distract voters from checking past performance.  i.e.: Biden/Harris economic policy isn’t working.  July marked the highest jobless rate in the U.S. since October 2021.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 600 points lower in the July.  Inflation has Americans paying +20% more for gasoline and groceries than they were four years ago.  In battleground states, President Trump continues to poll 15 points higher than Vice President Harris on economic issues.  If voters get weirded out with the ‘weird’ distraction strategy, Harris wins.

     Dr. Seuss said, “We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone, whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”  America could use some mutual weirdness in politics.