How to defeat Donald Trump and his ilk: fight fire with fire; Guardian, 12/12/15

Jonathan Freedland, Guardian; How to defeat Donald Trump and his ilk: fight fire with fire:

"Think of it as a vaccine, a small dose of right-wingery that can inoculate the rest. The exemplar remains the greatest slogan of left populism of recent times: New Labour’s “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”. Because you’ve reassured to your right, you’re allowed to go left. The trick is to get the dosing right, and not let the message of reassurance drown out the rest.

Once that’s done, all kinds of paths are open to the left populist. In today’s US, you could appeal to empathy, telling those hailing Trump that their Irish or Italian or Polish great-grandparents were once just like today’s Muslim would-be immigrants to America: decent, faithful people looking for a better life. You could appeal to their better angels, telling them that you know them – and that they’re better than this. Or you could cast Trump as the villain, doing what the rich and powerful have always done – pitting the poor and disadvantaged against each other rather than against the banks, big business and their enablers in Washington, those truly responsible for the pain they’re in. Labour MP Jon Cruddas, who has defeated his share of fascists in his Dagenham constituency, likes to deploy an English version of that message: “Don’t let these people play you for a mug. All they’re doing is pouring petrol on your grievance without offering you a solution.”

The point is, the new populists are on the march. Their rage cannot be fought with statistics. Their canny articulation – and exploitation – of people’s visceral pain cannot be defeated by an appeal to cool reason alone. The blaze has started. It’s time to start fighting fire with fire."