Owen Jones in the Guardian recently wrote an article entitled: “I signed an open letter to Donald Trump, and you should too”:
Trump’s unapologetic embrace of racism, xenophobia and misogyny vindicates all of those ugly prejudices the world over. And millions of Americans are horrified about Trump. They deserve our solidarity and support. There is, after all, another United States, one forged by immigrants and transformed by courageous Americans who fought racism, sexism and homophobia. That is a United States millions of us believe in. And that is why we should sign this letter.
I won’t be signing this letter. I remember 2004 and the Guardian’s “Operation Clark County” too clearly (which to be fair Owen Jones also does). That was when the Guardian urged its readers to write letters to residents in a key swing county in the USA (Clark County, Ohio) to ask people not to vote for George W Bush in order to save the world. (In retrospect, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz make George W Bush look like Goofy).
The operation was quite sophisticated. You went onto a website and were designated the name and address of a voter in Ohio. Then you wrote a letter to them, as a concerned global citizen, asking them not to vote for George W Bush. I wrote such a letter. In retrospect, how ridiculous it must have seemed to the person who received it! – Receiving a letter out of the blue from some twit in England. Indeed, the Guardian even recruited noted luvvies such as John le Carré, Lady Antonia Fraser and Richard Dawkins to write such letters.
I cannot help creasing up with laughter when I imagine the reaction of some blue collar worker in Springfield, Ohio as they opened a lavender envelope from Lady Antonia Fraser and read the first few lines quoting from Ogden Nash (who at least had the advantage of being American):
O duty
Why hast thou not the visage of a sweetie or a cutie … ?
Why art thou so different from Venus?
And why do thou and I have so few interests in common between us?
The reaction of Clark County residents to this avalanche of Guardian attention can be gauged from these reactions, perhaps beautifully epitomised by this one:
KEEP YOUR FUCKIN’ LIMEY HANDS OFF OUR ELECTION. HEY, SHITHEADS, REMEMBER THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR? REMEMBER THE WAR OF 1812? WE DIDN’T WANT YOU, OR YOUR POLITICS HERE, THAT’S WHY WE KICKED YOUR ASSES OUT. FOR THE 47% OF YOU WHO DON’T WANT PRESIDENT BUSH, I SAY THIS … TOUGH SHIT!
PROUD AMERICAN VOTING FOR BUSH!
It was even suggested that the Guardian’s campaign helped swing the election to Bush (“It was the Guardian wot won it”).
So, no, I won’t be signing an open letter to Donald Trump.
The photo above shows George W Bush speaking in Springfield, Ohio (part of Clark County) during the 2004 presidential election campaign.
* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Why non-fiction books need their indexes
Changes in status: Local Elections wrap up
What should the Liberal Democrats stand for?
Ben Wood
Ed Sanderson
Jack
Matt (Bristol)
John Grout
9 Comments
Owen Jones talks nonsense. No news here , move along
on-line petition
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/deartrump/?bvpXnbb&signup=1&cl=9769136769&v=74830
I didn’t sign it. I remember Operation Clark County (and also Howard Cook an estwhile colleague of mine) I did email it to some of my American friends. They don’t think much of Trump.
Dear ,or not so dear,or very dear indeed if you mean very expensive, Mr. Trump
Can I please have some of your millions of dollars so that I can make better use of them than you ever have or are now with your squalid campaign to be President of a country I care very much about .
Looking forward to hearing from you
Thank you very much
Yours sincerely
Lorenzo Cherin
I think Manfarang has it about right. This sort of letter only works in two circumstances: either someone already knows you and they respect your political judgement or you are already a public figure widely known in the area and respected by the target group. Otherwise, it’s just noise or irritation.
In the GLA election, the Tories are being accused of racial and religious profiling on the basis of surnames – very counter-productive when they get it wrong. Now where did I put that letter from Zac Goldsmith’s campaign?
I simply don’t feel it’s any of my business who American Republicans elect as their leader and only really have a sort of outsiders curiosity about American Elections. I’m more interested in domestic politics than world politics and think both the Left and the Right whip themselves into impotent frenzy over the internal affairs of the USA and Russia.
Owen Jones is one of the good guys. I have never read nonsense from him. But I suppose nonsense is in the eye/intellect of the reader
I sometimes find myself wishing I liked Owen Jones more than I do – there is an irrepressible puppylike optimism in him that make me feel cruel for my curmudgeonly reaction to things he says.
I vaguely remember hearing him talk at a festival once about how Britain had a long history of progress being won by the working classes by direct action and protest and then citing a long list of historic groups including the Diggers and the Chartists who … were all put down by violence and very few of whose specific goals were achieved.
It was (in my opinion, naturally), like a lot of things he says, a nice sentiment, but a bad fact.
And so the Trump petition – an expression of sentiment that is understandable but useless / counterproductive gesture politics otherwise.
@ Brian/D “Owen Jones is one of the good guys” Spot on.
I wish our party had half as much passion in looking at inequality and the power of the 1%. It would do Simon McGrath no harm to reflect on your second sentence.
Americans can respond differently to being told that what they decide has a huge effect on the rest of the world (yes, many of them don’t realise this), but the message has to come from other Americans.