The symbol of the donkey is outdated. If you’re fighting a war against Snakes & Jackals, you need an animal known for its thick skin, immunity to toxic venom, ferocious defensive capabilities and tenacity:

Meet The Honey Badger

Mission Statement

At less than five months from the most consequential election of our lifetimes, we face a multitude of new and unforeseen variables that transcend traditional technological advancements, emerging social media dynamics, shifts in voter demographics and divisive global issues. It is essential that we understand these variables, set aside our personal disgust and moral indignation and respond strategically: with simple, entertaining, viral messages designed to reclaim the frame of foundational American values and ideals, including patriotism, a sense of shared community and a commitment to institutional equality.

A FEW UNPLEASANT FACTS IMPACTING THE 2024 ELECTION

• Trump’s narrative frames continue to resonate with significant numbers of the electorate
  • His followers are LOYAL and UNCONCERNED with his moral, legal or anti-Democratic transgressions
  • Many share his fear-based, divisive world view. This includes:
    • Attacking foundational government norms
    • Attacking The rule of law
    • Painting himself as a martyr
    • Painting himself as a warrior for Ordinary Americans fed up with “woke culture” and the agitating left’s self-righteous agenda
    • Consider it Patriotic to overthrow the current system of government
    • Embrace religious law over traditional civil law
    • Suspicious of science, the medical community and “elites”
• Trump and the GOP draw strong support from critical voting blocks, including:
  • The Evangelical Right
  • Militant Christian Nationalists, whose message is increasingly (and effectively) cloaked in traditional masculine tropes*

*See Jesus & John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez

• Silicon Valley Libertarians
• Anti-Labor/Anti-Regulatory Business Interests
• Voters who believe the most extreme block of democratic representatives (the Squad), carry power and influence far beyond reality
• Disaffected groups whose cultural tribal sympathies align with the GOP

• TRUMP possesses an effective rhetorical gift based on Nazi Propagandist Joseph Goebbels axiom: “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”.  There are other variables that play in his favor including:

•  An extremely disciplined messaging infrastructure staffed by devoted surrogates and amplified in a siloed media ecosystem
• An extensive network of “Fifth Column” surrogates in the media and courts to champion his cause
• Rules by division (vs. inclusion)
• Impervious to shame/legal consequence/minority impact
• Skilled in the black arts of propaganda
• Willing – if not eager – to cheat in service of advancing his cause
• Happy to take advantage of a balkanized media system unable or unwilling to regulate itself or establish meaningful standards
• Underestimate Trump at your own peril

• Fair or unfair, Biden has high negatives in the minds of the electorate, including:
  • His age and perception of being enfeebled
  • His inability to deliver effective messages and frames that can be effectively deployed and amplified by a network of surrogates
  • His inability to understand that in this election, perception and narratives triumph over facts
  • Unflattering critiques of his style and substance seem to stick
  • Many independent voters are underwhelmed by Kamala Harris who is being depicted by the right as the likely eventual president if Biden is re-elected

• THE GOOD NEWS: There are solutions.
• First you need to understand that messaging for “the persuadable” voter is the goal – not the “feel good” burn behind an ad that ridicules Trump – along with his supporters. This is ticklish stuff – and has to be managed carefully
  • EXAMPLE: A “Positive Ad” that doesn’t denigrate either Trump’s followers or constituents, but instead appeals to our aspirational ideals as Americans
    • “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”
    • “Biden It” ad that turns Biden’s name into a verb synonymous with effective government

INSERT VIDEO SAMPLES/ANIMATICS HERE

The Honey Badger Alliance is a dream team of politically savvy, award-winning storytellers with a track record of delivering stirring, culturally relevant narratives to specific audiences. The team will be trained in some of the essential linguistic tools from Berkley’s trailblazing linguistic professor George Lakoff (Don’t Think of an Elephant, Whose Freedom), to Texas A&M Professor Jennifer Mercieca, (The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump) to Kristin Kobes du Mez (Jesus & John Wayne), which details the insidious rise and threat of Christian Nationalism. To make sure we’re all attacking the problem from a similar point of view, we will also be versed in key selections from books featuring the Lincoln Projects’ founding members.

OUR TEAM

Dode B. Levenson, CEO Scalable Media Group is an award-winning screenwriter, messaging strategist and storyteller specializing in research-driven, scalable narrative shifts and political framing across all media platforms.

After starting out in journalism working for The Jerusalem Post, Dode transitioned to film and television, adapting a Stephen King film for Miramax/Dimension, wrote the award-winning romantic comedy One  Small Hitch, co-created a post-apocalyptic animated series for Howard  Stern and collaborated with a series of high-profile partners, including J.  Soloway (Transparent), Micah Fitzerman-Blue (A Beautiful Day In The  Neighborhood), Nell Scovell (co-author of Lean In with Facebook COO  Sheryl Sandberg) and NBA legend Magic Johnson who Executive Produced Homeboy, Dode’s original screenplay for 20th Century Studios/Fox Family.

In addition to his TV and film work, Dode was a political consultant for democratic causes and candidates alongside Rob Kutner for San-Francisco-based FrameShift. He also formed Scalable Media Group, working as a media and  marketing consultant for companies servicing Fortune 5 clientele including  Apple, Amazon and YouTube. Dode is repped by Sheri Kelton Management.

Rob Kutner graduated from Princeton University and went on to become a five time Emmy-Award winning writer (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart), and has won a Peabody, a TCA, and a Grammy writing for such shows as TBS’ “CONAN” and HBO’s Dennis Miller Live. He’s also written material for the Oscars, Emmys, Writers’ Guild Awards, MTV Movie Awards, Guys’ Choice Awards, and two White House Correspondents’ Dinners. Rob is repped by Sheri Kelton Management.

Roger Wolfson received his law degree from University of Pennsylvania and went on to successful careers in politics, film and television, becoming a speechwriter for Senator John Kerry before writing for Law & Order SVU, The Closer, Saving Grace and more. He’s been staff for four U.S. Senators, written speeches for presidential candidates and worked as a civil rights attorney.

Billy Ray is an Academy Award nominated writer, producer director who wrote Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks), The Hunger Games (Jennifer Lawrence); The Comey Rule (Jeff Daniels, Holly Hunter) which he also directed. Billy got more involved in politics after the election of Donald Trump and wound up writing speeches for several politicians including Claire McCaskill. He also got involved in Vote The Common Good, a politically progressive Evangelical Christian organization where he mentored Dode Levenson for over two years.

Jay Kogen is a beloved comedy writer, producer and director who was one of the original Simpsons writers before going onto write for Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, Malcolm in the Middle, School of Rock and more. He also wrote the Dave Foley film The Wrong Guy.

Micah Fitzerman-Blue graduated from Harvard University and along with writing partner Noah Harpster, wrote Tom Hanks’ A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Co-Executive Produced the Emmy Award winning show Transparent (Amazon); wrote Disney’s *Maleficent (*Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning), Co-Executive Produced the opiate series Painkiller for Netflix and sold several other shows to various studios.

Jenji Kohan is an Emmy-award nominated television writer and producer who created the show Weeds, Orange is the New Black, Glow and wrote for many other shows including Mad About You, Sex in the City, Will & Grace and Friends.

Gretchen Barton is a multi-disciplined political researcher and strategist who went on to found Worthy Strategy Group, LLC, after becoming Research Director at Future Majority**.** Gretchen has designed and led research initiatives in the political and policy space across America on poverty, the youth vote, global nuclear weapons disarmament, immigration, gender in America, what Americans need in their next President, how Americans know what’s true, what the Democratic and Republican party brands mean, and more. She recently completed deep-dive studies of American swing-state voters across the nation and in Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Rural Wisconsin/Iowa/Minnesota, and Virginia, along with a deep dive into how Americans know what’s true. She’s worked on presidential to mayoral campaigns and is currently leading an initiative called What it Will Take, laying the narrative groundwork for the first female president, and advising on History Wars, a Johns Hopkins research initiative looking to unpack a way to bring Americans together around a shared future, if not a shared history. Gretchen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications and Planning Campaigns with distinction in research from Cornell University and has written for the Journal of College Student Development and the American Journal of Health Behavior

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https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/making-things-up-without-a-hitch-387419