Following is my latest article for the Oregon Eagle.
The Eagle is a local newspaper I have ownership in and contribute business/marketing content to.
All the advice I give below to the state of Oregon’s political leaders, business leaders, church leaders, civil leaders, city leaders, and other leadership the paper is primarily published for/sent to/read by, applies to just about any business.
Enjoy…
Back in January there was a “Tax Strike Rally” in Salem. And a day before the event, Twitter account “HALEY GROUND ZERO” posted:
“Some candidates will not be attending due to leftist intimidation tactics. They were warned they would be doxxed, and because their campaigns and families matter, they made the decision to step back. That choice is respected.”
“Respected” isn’t exactly the word I’d use.
If you’re a “pro-freedom” candidate running for public office in Oregon, and you’re not being harassed, doxxed, slandered, and threatened by rubbery Antifa youths out past their bedtimes then you’re not doing your job. Psychotic, gender-confused leftists coming at your family shouldn’t be cowered to… they should be target practice.
Pro-freedom conservative candidates need to embrace conflict, not avoid it.
Conflict always equals engagement in marketing. And engagement is the coin of the realm when it comes to all influence and persuasion – including influencing and persuading voting patterns.
Even if these candidates don’t have the stomach to fight for your freedom unless it’s safe and comfortable, they should do it for the free publicity, and to give like-minded voters something to rail against.
Not to mention these “intimidating” leftists are daily, breathing excuses to talk to would-be voters in email, on social media, and in op-eds in pro freedom newspapers (like the Oregon Eagle…) to stay in the news cycle and be the water cooler conversation topic at work.
Maybe 2026 will be the year conservative candidates finally take the tampon out and embrace the conflict, instead of avoiding it.
But until then the “conservative” label is phony.
After all, they haven’t even been able to “conserve” the ladies restroom from sexual deviants, or the ballot box from mail-in voting fraud, or the children’s playground from homeless drug addicts dropping dirty hepatitis and HIV covered needles in the last 40-years, with their strongly worded press releases and “I’m above toxic rhetoric!” social media virtue signaling.
If anything, we could use MORE toxic rhetoric from conservative candidates, not less.
Since I don’t like ending articles on a sour note, following are a couple bits of advice for the freedom-loving man or woman that have given me much peace of mind no matter what political party’s in power. They’re not necessarily “easy” to do. But the sooner you do them, the better off you and your family will be.
These two bits of advice are:
One, live in a corner of the state where you’re more likely to see a Bigfoot than a drag queen. And two, make enough money to be able to avoid the consequences of our politicians’ voting patterns.
Especially the conservative politicians selling you out by not fighting.
And so it is.
If you’re interested in learning specific ideas and ways for using this “Conflict = Engagement” approach to your own marketing, see the paid Email Players newsletter and also my free mobile app.
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Ben Settle
