In the arena

Christopher Rufo’s winning strategy.

“I like to go out and win. I think that ultimately if you’re playing politics and you’re not winning, you’re actually not really playing politics. You’re doing something else, you’re in entertainment, you’re on talk radio, or you’re stuck in the outrage loop.”  

Christopher Rufo started his recent speech at American Experiment’s Fall Briefing on Sept. 28 by calling out ineffective conservative politicking. Unlike those he is describing, Rufo is an activist in every sense. Throughout the speech, Rufo described strategies and techniques he uses with the hope other conservatives be “much more focused, much more deliberate, and much more effective” in the political space.  

The first step in effective activism is to recognize the three components that make up a successful activist campaign: language, action, and power. The core of the three is language. With it, humans can “mediate conflict,” “solidify relationships,” and “govern ourselves.” Rufo highlighted just how unique the American system is with its reverence for the language contained within the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. These documents are filled with rhetoric, a term often confused with lying. Rather, rhetoric is the effective language of politics. It was so important to the Romans and Greeks that aspiring statesmen would train to become proficient in it.  

Despite the importance that rhetoric played in these foundational systems, Rufo claims that America has abandoned it in favor of science to solve political problems. After the pandemic exposed the deficiencies in this thinking, many Americans have become aware of just how disastrous this decision has been for them. Rufo clarified that politics is a value-based debate with rhetoric as its currency, not a scientific enterprise.  

How is language used to influence this value-based debate? Rufo said that “you have to create language in order for people to understand what is happening and in order for people to participate in the political process.” The political left is particularly good at this with their seemingly unlimited and novel supply of jargon. To counteract this discrepancy between the two groups, Rufo highlighted his campaign against critical race theory that launched him into America’s political conscience. He started by forming a factual basis that gave people the language to discuss the issue intelligently and substantively. Then, he used a three-part rhetorical formula to advance his political interests. He explained what it was, gave concrete and emotionally charged examples of it, and then provided a call to action around ending the practice.  

This call to action is critical because without it, nothing gets done. If the right person hears the language portion but is not prompted to action, then it’s just hot air. Rufo called out the epidemic of D.C. think tanks that “operate as think tanks, kind of hermetically sealed chambers where smart people write long papers that nobody reads.” Language is insufficient as “those ideas don’t actually leap off the page into power.”  

Rufo pointed out that action is often met with resistance because “any serious political movement is going to take prestige, money, and power away from someone else.” These three things are highly valuable to people so they will go to great lengths to keep them. Rufo continued this point saying, “politics is the most serious enterprise. It’s the most fundamental, and so you can’t simply write. We’re not doing philosophy … In politics you have to take prudential action. You have to actually get out of the realm of language and into the realm of actual politics.”  

For Rufo, the strategy behind sound action lies in making the case, mobilizing your allies, demoralizing your opponents, and moving people emotionally. On this last point, Rufo lamented the popular phrase, “Facts don’t care about your feelings.” The reality is that people’s feelings don’t care about the facts. Rufo cited Aristotle as recognizing that the two essential elements of politics and persuasion are logic and emotion. He also cited James Madison’s sentiment that in a constitutional republic, sovereignty lies with public opinion. 

Rufo then related his personal example of taking effective action. Early last year, he was appointed as a trustee of New College of Florida by Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis. The university was producing poor educational results and was in danger of being closed by the Florida legislature. His goal was to restore color blind equality and retire the existing left wing racialist ideology, active discrimination, and forced equalization of outcomes. He started by reporting concrete examples, engaging the press, mobilizing public opinion, and getting his campaign through the legislature. He was met with resistance from some in the university who felt entitled to full control of the institution. However, Rufo was clear that this was a public university that should reflect the will of the people who elected both a conservative governor and legislature.  

The last component of successful activism is power. Rufo said activists setting goals must consider three elements of power: reputational, financial, and political. His last personal example — and most notorious — was his campaign at the end of 2023 to oust the president of Harvard University, Claudine Gay, for plagiarism. The language portion of the story is evident in its focus on plagiarized segments in Gay’s doctoral thesis. Obviously, this violated the university’s own rules, so Rufo was able to apply reputational pressure. Political pressure came from U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, who had grilled Gay over Harvard’s response to the Oct. 7 terror attacks against Israel. Through this testimony, Rufo put financial pressure on Harvard by contacting Jewish donors. Rufo highlighted how power operated more subtly than it usually does. The social lives of the university’s trustees were made very uncomfortable by the news story, and this is what Rufo credited as the reason that Gay was ultimately removed. 

Rufo ended his speech by reminding the audience that there are no easy wins for the political right. Therefore, those in politics, media, and the think tank world should adopt the aforementioned strategies if they want to be successful. “The truth requires the assistance of the human hand. That’s politics at its best. It’s using all of these techniques … to try to make sure that those true principles occupy a position of authority, and so we can make the country better piece by piece.”  

Thankfully, American Experiment is already in the arena. This think tank goes beyond thinking and writing papers. It has a strong grassroots presence and because of its activism, is continually cited as the most influential conservative group in Minnesota. 

Caleb Larson is a member of American Experiment’s Young Leaders Council.