Inspired by this post and the fact that I'm seeing a lot of regular libs start to coverage on "these guys are weird little freaks" as a messaging policy, which really seems to be bringing out the 
in the far right. It's working much better for them than all of Biden's attempts to portray Trump as some kind of existential threat to 
.
This is interesting, and only surprising in the sense that it is surprising to see the Democrats do something kind of effective for once. Fascists thrive on being seen as cool, powerful, and dangerous; those aesthetics are central to the brand. Every time Biden gave a big speech about how the future of democracy was on the line in the election, it played into that aesthetic. Every time CNN calls January 6 a "coup attempt," it plays into that aesthetic.
Calling these people weird little freaks with weird dumb ideas and weird creepy fixations does not play into that aesthetic. It breaks the illusion that all the freaks at the RNC wearing bandages on their ears are actually normal and represent normal people. They aren't, and they don't. This is yet another thing that the left has known for some time now, but that libs seem to maybe be catching on to: taking these idiots seriously empowers them. Actually realizing that and using it is one of the smarter things that the Dems have done in a while.
Yes, and it’s what they should’ve been doing all along. The civility politics was always a nonstarter, as was the pearl clutching about saving democracy. It’s just the dirtbag left zeitgeist, but now being done by dems 8 years after they should’ve started doing it.
I do think it only works though if you’re on top, and the dems have a lot of energy right now, while the gop seems to have had its wind knocked out of it with the Biden-Harris switch. If you aren’t already winning in the field of public opinion I think it mostly looks desperate, and fortunately for the dems public opinion has shifted in their favor. And also fortunately for the dems the far right has gotten weirder over the years. They were always weird, but back in 2016 there was an element of (reactionary) opposition to neoliberalism to them, which played well when going up against Hillary Clinton. These days they seem more focused on weird hangups about veganism and trans people.
The degree to which the Democrats actually got their shit together and even kind of took advantage of the momentum shift is really kind of astounding, and does make me think Harris has a good chance of winning. Biden's response after the assassination attempt--to pause all his advertising out of "respect"--is much more what I've come to expect from them. It's interesting to see them actually press an advantage for once, even if very mildly. It definitely makes Harris seem more "with it" than any major Democrat since Obama, which I think is a good strategy for them.