John Kudla "Going dark in a general sense means to cease communications or activities. This tactic can be applied to espionage, military operations, guerrilla warfare, and large segments of any population if a situation warrants it. Judging from the results of recent political polls, one could argue that a significant percentage of conservative voters and perhaps even moderates have gone dark.
"If you were surprised by a July 19 ABC News/Washington Post poll that had Joe Biden up over Donald Trump by 15 points nationally, a CBS News/YouGov poll from July 26 that had Biden up by 10 points, or the most recent Economist/YouGov poll that has Biden up by 9 points, chances are you were not alone. Conservative analysts would consider these polls less than accurate or deliberately juiced in some way to get a desired result. However, if you look at the Real Clear Politics 2020 list of national presidential polls, the last time Trump polled ahead of Biden was February 2020. Almost all national polls have had Biden ahead before and since." . . .
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"The most compelling case that conservatives have gone dark is a recent Cato Institute poll, which found that 62% of Americans overall are afraid to express their political views. This includes 77% of conservatives but an average of 47% of liberals and strong liberals. This is an amazing statistic. Less than half of liberals are afraid to express their political views, while over three quarters of conservatives fear doing so.
"It is not difficult to understand why conservatives feel this way. They watch night after night as a slow-motion liberal version of Kristallnacht rolls on in many American cities. Police are attacked, businesses are looted and burned, statues are pulled down, and innocent bystanders or motorists in their cars are harassed or worse. They know that wearing a MAGA hat or shirt in the wrong neighborhood may get them attacked and beaten. They know that a Trump yard sign or bumper sticker may get their house or vehicle vandalized. They know that if they say or post the wrong thing on social media, they may be tarred as a racist, misogynist, homophobe, xenophobe, etc., and could possibly lose their job or career.
"The commonsense reaction to these kinds of threats is to either fight back or go dark. "
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