2026-09-22 13:06 UTC
Yes! It’s frustrating because I genuinely want what’s best for this community, but I feel like this is such a massive misstep.
I think of the issue of gun regulation. Democrats wanted “common sense gun regulation”. With was incredibly popular in the polls. But Republicans lied about what democrats wanted, and this engaged their voters. They went to the polls to protect their gun rights.
Now guns are deregulated in ways nobody even wanted. Maybe democrats were on the right side, but the messaging was wrong, and it backfired massively.
Replies (1)
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@bampop@lemmy.world 2026-09-22 13:51
On a wedge issue like this there really doesn’t seem to be a right way to do the messaging. On Fox news you’re addressing entrenched beliefs that trans athletes are this huge threat to all that is good in the world, trying to explain why it isn’t so is a losing game. I think Talarico tried to sidestep the issue by saying he opposes trans athletes “if it endangers safety or fairness”, which is really quite a reasonable position. To the right wing it sounds like he opposes trans athletes but the condition he put on it means he actually doesn’t. He put forward a position that both sides might even agree on, but it didn’t give the trans community the impression of endorsing their side that they wanted.