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@h2o
It's twofold.
One, you don't get people out to vote by calling the people you don't like names. Attack advertising has been a standard voter suppression technique for decades - people who don't feel particularly strongly about either side just tune the whole thing out. So if you want to engage the unengaged, talk to them in words that will mean something to them and don't spend so much time attacking the people you can't engage with. (I think that's one of the things Obama was incredibly talented at - he'd often sidestep the head-on arguments by aiming for a higher level of discourse. Which they then turned into a meme for Clinton, but she just wasn't as good at it.)
Two, you're probably still going to need some swing voters. Telling them that they are idiots/racists/inbreds isn't going to make them swing to voting for the side you like. Talking to them and listening to what they have to say just might.
Nobody's saying we have to indulge the racists. But we have to engage with the reasonable people who can be persuaded that making common cause with the racists is a bad idea.