I have been obsessed with political messaging since I was a child.

Great messages win.

“Nixon’s the One” beat “Come Home America”

“We Shall Overcome” beat “State’s Rights”

It’s the Economy Stupid” beat “A Proud Tradition.”

“Yes We Can.” beat “Country First”

“Right to Life” beat “Choice”

Make America Great Again” Well, that killed us… twice.

When I worked in City Hall, my boss, Nick Fish, and I were fanatics about always knowing your clear message. In campaigns and governing, the message is the thing. When the public forgets the policy, the vote, the promise, they will remember the message or slogan. Entire campaigns have been won and lost on the message. Do you remember Kamala Harris’ message? Nope. But you damn sure know what MAGA and the red hat mean.

Out of the box, the organizers of the advocacy group Indivisible stumbled upon the simple message: NO KINGS, I was excited. Simple. Clear. Fits on a hat, a sign, a hand-drawn poster. It has historical and patriotic meaning. The sub-messaging anyone could do under the No Kings slogan was endless. I, and 2 other neighbors, still have those signs up in front of our homes.

Out for a walk last week, I saw new neighbors moving in and walked up to introduce myself. I tried to tell them I lived around the corner, and they looked confused. Finally, I said, “It’s the house with the No Kings sign in the front yard.” They both lit up and smiled. “No Kings,” said the gentleman. “We like that sign,” said the daughter. We shook hands and had an immediate bond.

On the day of the No Kings national rally, millions of people across America took to the streets under that banner in big cities and small towns. They took that slogan and made their own variations on the theme. It was invigorating and unifying. So, what did the progressive leadership do with all that energy? What did they do with that message? NOT A DAMN THING.

The resistance movement froze like Bambi in the headlights and moved on to new rallies with different messages. Attendance collapsed. They sucked the energy out of the movement by slicing up the opposition to the new dictatorship into discrete causes, all worthy of attention and already forgotten. The left’s genetic desire to include a diverse base is the deadly flaw.

Look what happened to the historic and powerful Rainbow Flag. Now, it’s covered with multicolor chevrons that dilute the power. They had the perfect, universally known symbol and turned it into an identitarian mess. Kind of like HBO becoming MAX and now, realizing the mistake, changing back to HBO. Capitalists are dumb too. To win, and only winning and power count, the left must suppress the desire to please everyone. Hard, I know, but we are at war with MAGA, and they are as focused as assassins with our country sighted in their scopes.

My plea is simple. When you have a winner, a single symbol or message that works, for all our sakes, stay with it. Encourage people to improvise on specific issues under that common banner. Make it simple for people who don’t want to carve up their advocacy. Post one thought, carry one sign: NO KINGS.

This morning, I did my usual dive into the news and realized that we may have already lost the war to save our liberal democracy. Today is 200 days into the MAGA dictatorship, and the losses are all around us. Then I read this new Andrew Sullivan piece, and he said the same thing. Still this afternoon, I feel liberated. I enjoy being a guerrilla fighter underdog. You should too.

Here is my dream. On election day, November 4, the Democrats are going to win crushing victories in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races. Count on it. My dream is that on Friday of that week we all go into the streets in a national strike to drive home the wins with the message: NO KINGS. We are coming for you.