I've been working in politics for over 25 years. But 2016 and 2020 were different from anything I had ever experienced before.
As director of strategic communication for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and surrogate manager for Joe Biden, I witnessed firsthand the vile, hateful rhetoric coming from the other side — and how frighteningly effective it was at misleading voters and emboldening hate groups.
That's because Donald Trump ran on a completely different platform than us, one centered on divisiveness and tearing our country apart. A campaign for racism, sexism, and misogyny.
Now, our House Democrats are facing the same BS that Hillary, Biden, and so many others dealt with from the GOP: smear campaigns, slanderous lies, and character assassinations on moderate Dems.
John, politics is very different now than it was over 20 years ago when I was first starting my work with Democratic candidates.
For one thing, facts used to matter. Sure, there were always attack ads on the airwaves and some tense debates, but personal attacks against candidates using blatantly ludicrous and damaging lies? Not the norm and definitely not as successful before social media existed.
But now, these types of spurious and hateful attacks are all we can expect, especially from the GOP. And the consequences are dire: for the civility of our public discourse, the sanctity of our democracy, and the future of our Democratic majorities.
John, Shield PAC provides the defense our House Democrats need against misinformation and baseless Republican attacks. Their work is necessary so these lies don't go unchallenged, and no one is stepping up to the plate to combat misinformation at the source like they are.
