Trump Has Built a Death Star

[kalm]

Obviously not their only strategy and the base needs to remain fired up.

The Trump App, as a technical matter, is sound. It’s easy to sign up! There are social-media tutorials for the olds on how to spread the gospel online! The text messaging is seamless! They have merch! And oooh, look at all those nightly video “events” on live stream!

But the real question is who, besides the hardest-core Trump supporters, is going to consume all this Trumptastic content?

Probably no one. And that’s the point.

The Trump campaign isn’t trying to entice new voters by sneakily suckering them into their digital tractor beam; it’s radicalizing the people who are already on the Death Star. This effort has been called a “gamified campaign,” a “digital mousetrap,” and Candy Crush for MAGA-land—and all those descriptions that ring true. A Trump supporter uses the app to earn points redeemable for merchandise discounts, early event access, and even a photo with Trump. There are memes to be spread, hashtags to plant, and lots of prompts to donate and leverage contacts to recruit friends and family.

When Brad Parscale called this operation his Death Star, he was, no doubt, thinking like Grand Moff Tarkin and believing that he had built the ultimate power in the 2020 galaxy. It must have slipped his mind that the Death Star—and every subsequent Death Star ever built—included a fatal flaw so glaring and dangerous that it was able to be destroyed at minimal cost by a small band of rebels.

So in a way, Parscale isn’t wrong, exactly. The Trump campaign is loading their existing followers onto an all-inclusive Trump battle station that, despite all the bells and whistles, might very well blow up in their faces

https://thebulwark.com/is-the-trump-cam ... ssion=true

[Ivytalk]

Interesting piece. The subtler point is that the “Death Star” app(roach) likely won’t gain Drumpf a single new vote.

[CID1990]

I remember when a similar campaign apparatus in 2012 was a non-issue

[AZGrizFan]

Death star, schmeth star....THIS is the greatest invention of the century:

[kalm]

Interesting piece. The subtler point is that the “Death Star” app(roach) likely won’t gain Drumpf a single new vote.

But, Trump only cares about branding anyway. That’s how he’s won his whole life.

[Ivytalk]

Interesting piece. The subtler point is that the “Death Star” app(roach) likely won’t gain Drumpf a single new vote.

But, Trump only cares about branding anyway. That’s how he’s won his whole life.

* “won”

[SeattleGriz]

The Bulwark.

[kalm]

The Bulwark.

No kidding! A moderate conservative news organization! The horror!

[houndawg]

Interesting piece. The subtler point is that the “Death Star” app(roach) likely won’t gain Drumpf a single new vote.

But, Trump only cares about branding anyway. That’s how he’s won his whole life.

If you call losing a billion in a decade "winning"

[SeattleGriz]

The Bulwark.

No kidding! A moderate conservative news organization! The horror!

More like butthurt losers that are now pissed their gravy train is over.

I'll stick with National Review or Hotair if I'm looking for NeverTrumpers.

But, you're awesome.

[Ivytalk]

The Bulwark.

No kidding! A moderate conservative news organization! The horror!

The Bulwark has Bill Kristol and a few other leftovers from Weekly Standard. It has some good conservative content, but it has been focused on never-Trump stuff.