I've been thinking about the LIBERATE protests completely the wrong way. The point of astroturfing these things is not to fire up / motivate GOP base.
1/ https://twitter.com/tripgabriel/status/1253027810685464581
They're designed to send a partisan signal on how to view reopening, which people would normally view through an "I can haz COVID?" lens instead of a partisan lens 2/
Trump's decision to reopen (insofar as it's his at all) has already been made based on some economic/electoral calculus. But most GOP are viewing this through a public health lens and scared we'll move too quickly 3/
The protests and Fox News noise machine aren't aimed at motivating the hardcore base. They're aimed turning reopening into a partisan issue for the broader GOP universe. 4/
Addendum... It's not most GOP who are worried we will move too quickly, but it's ~40% which is a big problem.
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