Knife Fight: How to Slay MAGA, Seize Our Flag, and Save Democracy

A playbook for Democrats to change the narrative, reclaim patriotism, and win

“Politics is a dominance competition, and Mr. Trump is an avid and ruthless practitioner of it. He offers a striking contrast with most Democrats, who are more likely to fret over focus-group data and issue ever more solemn pledges to control prescription drug prices.” —M. Steve Fish, writing in The New York Times

For the past decade, Democrats have brought policy papers to a knife fight. Somewhere along the way, the party of Roosevelt and Kennedy forgot how to inspire Americans, retreating into the false belief that if they just explained the plan one more time, voters would come home. But data shows that voters don’t want the kindest, smartest, or even most experienced person in the room. Leaders need to be perceived as dominant: strong, courageous, and patriotically obsessed with the promise of the United States. Trump understood this, throwing punches, wrapping himself in the flag, and upending the story of America. He projected dominance—and won.

Strength isn’t the opposite of goodness. It’s what goodness needs to survive.

M. Steven Fish has spent his career studying how strongmen seize power; Laila Aghaie is an expert in communication strategy. Knife Fight is their bold, no-holds-barred book that shows fed-up Democrats how to mobilize voters and inspire loyalty by telling the rousing, beautiful, and true story of what America is and can be. It is the playbook for taking back the country.

With sharp prose and cutting-edge data, Knife Fight identifies the three virtues that win—strength, courage, and patriotism—and lays out fifteen protocols to put them to work and concrete steps to build a winning narrative. Knife Fight is nothing less than Don’t Think of An Elephant for our times: a battle plan to restore the promise of our nation.