Read on Twitter
I've been studying the role of outside funding and infrastructure in social movements and lobbying campaigns for some time, and it's been interesting to witness this moment with the "reopen" protests, if obviously troubling for public health - THREAD
One of the questions I keep getting from journalists is whether these protests should be considered "astroturf" given initial evidence of some centralized coordination https://www.reddit.com/r/maryland/comments/g3niq3/i_simply_cannot_believe_that_people_are/fnstpyl/
They way I define that term in my book is that it's public participation that involves some degree of: material incentives (e.g. paid protesting phenomenon - rare but exists), masquerading (patrons providing support/infrastructure hide their role), or fraud (e.g. forgeries)
The masquerading piece is probably the one that's most relevant here, although it's worth noting that groups like Freedomworks, Michigan Freedom Fund, etc., haven't been hiding their role in many aspects of this.
Not ruling out that there's lots of other covert support, but worth being careful in thinking about it
There clearly is a significant amount of coordination taking place across the different locales, which goes beyond borrowing copy for websites
And it's noteworthy, as others have pointed out (e.g. @davidfrum), it doesn't take a large demo size to get a lot of media attention. So this is clearly drawing others into it given amplification from media coverage
But to me focusing on outside support is of course a relatively minor factor compared to the macro forces of low levels of trust in government, extreme partisan polarization, and the other usual suspects like political media
As in the case of the Tea Party protests from a decade ago, you have conservative media helping to get this off the ground. I'm reminded of this great chart from the @V_Williamson and Skocpol team a decade ago, and would love to see similar evidence for today
Expect similar differences in terms of different outlets as leading vs. lagging, probably with similar composition
As @kirksiegler report pointed out a few days ago, rural health systems were already weak. Many participants will go back to these communities after rallies https://www.npr.org/2020/04/09/829753752/small-town-hospitals-are-closing-just-as-coronavirus-arrives-in-rural-america
More than anything, research from @sgadarian @TomPepinsky @ThatSaraGoodman makes clear that it's partisanship that's the major driving force overall https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/491576-we-need-the-gop-to-flatten-the-curve
These charts really tell the story https://twitter.com/TomPepinsky/status/1243565460395831297?s=20
It's also clear that 2A and general pro-gun groups have been playing a big role
This WaPo that's been getting a lot of attention provides some background on this https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/04/19/pro-gun-activists-using-facebook-groups-push-anti-quarantine-protests/
Also found it notable that ReOpenPA's website redirects immediately to the Pennsylvania Firearms Association
I don't know if it's been fully appreciated that PA Gov Wolf's mixed signals (and PA Supreme Court decision) on whether gun shops would be considered "essential businesses" was likely a major mobilizing force for such groups https://www.goerie.com/news/20200324/wolf-reopens-gun-shops-orders-more-pennsylvania-residents-to-stay-home
We don't know yet whether this will build into a more substantial and durable movement given that we are likely to see fits and starts of short-term reopening followed by lockdown for the next two years. This could be around a while
Not impossible that we'll see some venue shopping with activism around particular types of businesses being considered "essential"
I haven't yet seen evidence that the public affairs firms I wrote about in my book are directly involved here, but they cater somewhat more to a corporate/industry clientele rather than wealthy ideological donors (though they do some of that too)
Summing up: clear that there's a lot of coordination between political orgs, party-related operatives, and local activists, but the main story is still the @brendannyhan ur-take that partisanship is a hell of a drug
Thanks to the journalists I've been talking to over the past few days for your reporting on this (e.g. @nprjoel, @kevinmhardy)
