It’s increasingly clear that we’ll all soon be embroiled in a major battle we can’t avoid.  Truth vs. Lies.  Easy access to a fair vote vs. suppression and miscounting of the vote.  Authoritarianism vs. Democracy.

The outcome answers the question, “Will American democracy die?”

Currently the battle is playing out on a variety of fronts. In Congress …in state legislatures and in scores of advocacy organizations on both sides. Whether the subject matter involves voting, or climate change, policing, equality, childcare, physical infrastructure, or education the fundamental issue is whether the majority or the minority will determine the outcome.

This is why the fight over the filibuster in the U.S. Senate….the question of gerrymandering of Congressional districts in the states…and the burning issues of voter access and who counts the votes are all so key. Who decides?  The majority or minority? Democracy or Authoritarianism.

One consistent factor in all this is the ability of each side to raise money, inform and mobilize its constituency.  The essential importance of fundraising and campaigning –the techniques and strategies that will help save our democracy.

[Sadly, there’s also lots of grift, scamming and distortion –on both sides–that will accompany all this.  We’ll deal with that in future posts.]

All this has given rise to a relatively new breed of organizations largely driven by social media, streaming video, and the use of digital tools like geofencing to raise money and inform/mobilize activists and voters.

Nowhere is this more pronounced than around fundraising involving corporate donations.  Until campaign finance rules are changed the strategy increasingly seems to be ‘hate the player not the game.” In short, do everything possible to cut off corporate funding—a major source of contributions for Congressional candidates –by attacking the corporate donors.

Most corporations are notoriously squeamish when it comes to negative exposure.  And it’s hard to imagine a more negative image for an American corporation than being labelled as supporting the rise of authoritarianism and the death of democracy.

Consequently, we’re likely to see more and more of the type of campaigns and organizational approaches illustrated below.

Background:  Defunding the Sedition Caucus

Following the January 6^th sacking of the U.S. Capitol by zealots high on Donald Trump’s lies about election fraud a host of corporate PACs and industry groups promised to cut off contributions to the 147 Republicans who voted on January 6 overturn the election results.

At the time (see Funding the Insurrection) we suspected this was little more than pure hypocritical horseshit aimed at appeasing customers, shareholders, and the media.

Breaking the Defunding Promise

In fact, it took only mere weeks before the gusher of campaign cash resumed as more and more companies opened their wallets– signaling their forgiveness for members of the Sedition Caucus.

A few of many examples:

• Members who voted against certifying the Electoral College results including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and the chamber’s No. 2 Republican, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana are once again among the top recipients of contributions from business PACs.
• Roll Call reports, “the top business and industry PACS contributing to the 147 G.O.P. lawmakers were major defense contractors such as General Dynamics, as well as Duke Energy, American Crystal Sugar Company and PACS connected with the Associated Builders and Contractors and the National Association of Realtors.
• “Not only have many PACs decided to reengage after Jan 6, but lawmakers and candidates are also increasingly returning to in-person fundraising events, luring corporate and lobbying interests eager to mingle.” adds Roll Call.

Toyota PAC Is Top Donor to Republicans Who Opposed Biden Election

Claiming that it would not cut off PAC contributions based on just one vote, Toyota’s political action committee quickly broke its January 6^th promise to carefully review donations to the Sedition Caucus—those 147 Republican members of Congress who opposed certifying the 2021 presidential election.

Instead, it gave more money ( $55,000 )  than any other PAC to Republican who attempted to block Biden’s victory , according to  the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

With the public revelation of Toyota’s donations, the proverbial shit hit the fan. 

Not only did Toyota manage to piss off thousands of actual and potential Prius customers along with millions of other democracy-loving folks, but it also triggered a sophisticated, hard-hitting, and successful anti-authoritarian, pro-democracy campaign.  The type of campaign likely to be repeated over and over as the fight to save democracy intensifies and as donors supporting the Big Lie and authoritarianism are singled out.

First, The Lincoln Project and its 700,000 donors, joined by a broad pro-democracy coalition,  and using by digital and tech tactics of Joe Trippi his team drew up a blueprint for a campaign to get Toyota to stop supporting Republicans who attempted to block Biden’s election

The plan consisted of:

• A hard-hitting video spot exposing Toyota’s hypocrisy (see below).
• Geo-fencing of Toyota dealerships. The smart phones of potential customers visiting a dealership would deliver a message about Toyota’s anti-democracy behavior.
• Messaging directed at employees in the company’s headquarters;
• Messaging to audiences in Japan alerting them to Toyota’s anti-democracy behavior in America.

The ultimate goal according to the organizers (for greater detail listen to this podcast with Joe Trippi and the Lincoln Project’s Steve Schmidt) is to “spread the message, sound the alarm, get people engaged and keep them focused on building a massive pro-democracy movement.”

Did It Work?

Within 6 hours after the campaign was launched Toyota announced the company would no longer support members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election.

Here’s the spot from the campaign.

The Lincoln Project and the Trippi team report they are now focusing on launching similar campaigns against Citibank and Google—two more companies that are currently supporting the Sedition Caucus.  And they promise more and more attacks to come.

Reasons Why

Campaigns of this type are not simply aimed at changing corporate donor behavior.  The larger goal is to use tough tactics and messaging to alert and involve more and more Americans to the larger issue of the current threat to democracy.  In Joe Trippi’s words, “There’s no compromising with an authoritarian movement.  There is no win-win.  It’s zero sum—if the authoritarians succeed –democracy dies.  Only a broad pro-democracy coalition of Americans can stop it.”

There’s no question that democracy is under threat.  Truth, the essence of a free and democratic society is in decay, assaulted by forces intent on imposing a frightening and conspiratorial alternate reality.

Fortunately, in troubling times like these ordinary people and the organizations they create have proven amazingly resilient, capable of rescue, restoration, and renewal.

If ever more tough-minded fundraisers and campaigners were needed it’s now.

Roger

P.S. To fully grasp the stakes involved I urge you to read Trippi’s Op Ed piece In USA Today