Yang Gang Weekly Wisdom #12: Three Big Bets
Hey Yang Gang,
We’re a gang – a very friendly one – and Andrew Yang is our leader. He doesn’t tell us what to do explicitly, but if we pay attention – we can figure out the general game plan for his campaign. Before we get into these not-so-hidden messages from the front, let’s take a moment to appreciate just how far we’ve come.
Journey so far
The big news this week was Yang finally hit 1 million Twitter followers! He started the campaign with only 4,000. If you’re feeling some Yang Gang fatigue from all the hard work you’re putting in, remember we’ve come a long very way and have accomplished what seemed impossible in a short amount of time. Andrew had virtually no name recognition or money less than one year ago.
Only one person showed up to the first Yang event in New Hampshire.
“In late 2018, Mr. Yang recalled, the campaign had ‘maybe $20,000 in the bank’” – New York Times
Now we can raise $1 million in a week.
Like many of you, I became fully converted after the Joe Rogan podcast, though I first heard of Andrew Yang through a blockchain news site and on the Sam Harris podcast. I was skeptical mainly because, as an Asian-American myself, I didn’t think most Americans believed Asian-Americans were “American enough.” That all changed after watching his Joe Rogan conversation.
Though it still seemed like a longshot, three factors changed my mind from skeptical to completely possible:
1. The first time I saw the words “Yang Gang” in the comments section, it just seemed right. Like “Berners”, it was catchy and catchy gets traction.
2. The YouTube comments were so positive it was unbelievable. YouTube comments are normally a cesspool of humanity, but Andrew managed to unite everyone to say nice things.
3. The Joe Rogan Experience has a huge audience – one big enough to catalyze a movement
The fact is Americans voted twice pretty overwhelmingly for a man named Barack Hussein Obama – a longshot in 2007. Trump was a longshot in 2015. Even pulling off the Revolution was a massive longshot in 1775. We as a nation have always done the unexpected. It is not only possible Andrew Yang could win – in some ways it’s probable.
[From Arthur, the editor]: I had a similar moment-of-clarity early-on in the campaign. I saw Yang’s first reddit AMA back in March of 2018. It was hosted on /r/futurology. I was unemployed at the time so I had the opportunity to go to one of his events hosted in New York City. I remember Campaign Manager Zach Graumann speaking to a room of maybe 15 or 20 people and asking people to donate “so we can hit our goal of $100,000 by the end of the year” (a lot has changed since then). It wasn’t Yang’s charisma, or the team’s earnestness, or their funding that convinced me this campaign had legs: it was the platform. Reading Yang’s book was like back-to-back diagnoses for the illness in modern-day America. I think early #YangGang feel a little bit like Michael Burry from The Big Short. All the data suggested this campaign would make waves in American politics, it’s no surprise seeing that come to fruition now.
Signals from the Top
Andrew Yang leads by example and the campaign is making big plays to get us to the next stage — though not explicitly because the campaign doesn’t want to show all its cards. Here are the three big bets we are betting the Yang Campaign will be making. By sharing where we think the campaign is going, we hope it improves your individual efforts. Yang Gang Wisdom is all about making us – the Yang Gang – better.
1. Women for Yang
The first bet is putting Evelyn Yang front and center of the campaign – to show Andrew as a devoted family man and husband. A common criticism of the campaign has been the lack of female support.
The introduction of Evelyn in TV ads and on the campaign trail will hopefully be the game changer we need to bring more women on board.
In these short TV ads, Andrew seems more like a normal politician and less like the outsider we discovered in long-form conversations like the Joe Rogan podcast. It’s not a bad thing. Our next milestone is to appeal not to podcast listeners, but to TV viewers – two extremely different audiences. It’s a big pivot from the “different kind of movement” we’ve been used to, but it’s necessary and something we all need to help with. For starters, make sure to follow Evelyn on Instagram:
The Yang Gang moves fast and there are new efforts happening all the time so stay up to date by following WomenForYang. There’s even a podcast for female Yang Gang, a women of the Yang Gang video coming out soon, and an insightful thread about the important issues for women.
And don’t forget the #WomenForYang hashtag blast on Tuesday.
2. Human stories
The latest New York Times piece about the Yang Campaign gives us crucial details of how the campaign is shifting to become “more human-based.”
“Telling the stories of the people that are receiving the Freedom Dividend, telling the stories of people who are not getting the Freedom Dividend but whose lives would be changed if they did and also telling my story to a higher degree.” Andrew Yang in New York Times
The new TV ad and the new video of Andrew speaking to Freedom Dividend recipients shows the pivot from #MATH and data to more human stories.
“That’s the essence of the campaign: we all have things to offer that can improve the world” – Andrew Yang
If we can make it past the skeptics and cynics, we can do this for everyone in the country.
3. Play nice (for now)
From his second Breakfast Club interview, which also has an overwhelmingly positive YouTube comments section, Yang says they’ve got a game plan and he’s sticking to it. Specifically, he’s playing nice until the field narrows. Besides being all about #HumanityFirst, we know this makes strategic sense from how voting in Iowa works. We will need to join forces with smaller candidates in order to surpass the 15% viability threshold and get any votes at all in the first primary voting state.
Playing nice and being #HumanityFirst means more friends got your back.
Hopefully, more friends means more votes.
Best of the Week
Yang Gang Shout-Out
Shout out to @CharityDemay for going full Yang Gang and moving to an early state – South Carolina. Show her some love and appreciation!
Coffee Table Banking
I had a similar idea, but it was called the Yang Gang Yearbook with yearbook-like signing sections, where other Yang Gang could write messages for each other. That way we won’t forget the Yang Gang even after we all go off to college. KIT (Keep in Touch)!
App Banking
Turns out we really are good at the internet.
Plane Banking
Umbrella Banking
Stained Glass Window Banking
3D Printer Banking
Embroidery Banking
Overpass Banking with Costumes!
From Houston Yang Gang
License Plate Banking
Boyfriend Banking
Video
Tweet
Shareable for non-Yang Gang:
Andrew Yang’s opinion piece in the New York Times
This is the basic message of the campaign in written form. It’s a good one to forward your non-Yang Gang contacts who like to read. It’s a summation Yang’s policies from the man himself and the comments section include some of the most common rebuttals and, of course, Yang Gang replies.
If your non-Yang Gang friends and family prefer funny videos and tweets, send them Andrew Yang’s Greatest Hits Vol. 1.
“WOW!!!!! You have done an AMAZING JOB . This was great and I'm forwarding it on to my family and friends in emails. PLEASE keep up the GREAT WORK. Thank You for what you're doing to, Help America Think Harder.” - John
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