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Why do WE use the "MAGA" label? It's bad enough to let it go unchallenged, let alone reinforce it. [1]

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Date: 2023-10-02  

As if I need to remind you... MAGA stands for Make America Great Again. So why do we hand them the gift of referring to their "movement" in their own terms, every day?

By we, I mean:

Democratic politicians, from Biden down.

Progressive leaders.

Media.

Practically everyone, even this community.

As progressives, liberals or Democrats, we may spit the "word" MAGA out in disgust, or modify it in one way or another amongst ourselves (MAGAT, for instance). But let's remember- the Trump-cult member still wears this label with pride. We may just see a poisonous acronym, but the Red Hats still see "Make America Great Again". It's their brand.

Brands can have immense power. Do you think the Republican propaganda machine would ever utter a Democratic self annointed slogan/acronym, one that connects the movements aspirations to greatness?

Yeah, right.

The Democratic machine has done nothing in replacing the MAGA label with something:

More accurately descriptive.

Properly belittling.

Catchy and consistently used.

Rebranding something is tough. It requires repetition, sufficient exposure, and a commitment to stay "on brand" by the rebranders. Republicans have understood this for years, and use Fox news to disseminate their talking points, to get their ranks "in line" with messaging. We don’t have a similar apparatus. And as they say, getting Democrats to point in the same direction is herding cats.

It’s not too late to rebrand MAGA into something else. But I have no illusions as to the success in any effort in rebranding their movement, or that the people responsible for Dem messaging will even TRY. Especially after letting it go unchallenged so long. The larger point is that this is the sort of thing that Democrats HAVE to get better at. This is table stakes stuff.

If you want to have a little fun in the comments, throw out your best rebranding name/term/acronym for the scourge that is Trump-Cult. I know the chances are practically nil that this post will change anything, but I’ll throw out a couple suggestions anyway.

MANAC- Pronounced same as manic. "Make Americans Nazis And Cowards".

MACA - Make America Criminal and Abominable.

“The MAGA-CULT”- self-explaining. Doesn’t change “MAGA”, but adding a suffix gives it a whole different look. And really, the most accurate desciptor of the phenomenon.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/2/2182923/-Why-do-WE-use-the-MAGA-label-It-s-bad-enough-to-let-it-go-unchallenged-let-alone-reinforce-it

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