POKE THE “Q-ANON BEAR”

And now for something completely different

By Bruce Watson

Since 2016, millions of postcards have delivered messages directly to blue and purple landscapes. Postcards to loyal Democrats. Postcards to Democratic leaners. Postcards to swing voters, first-time voters, reluctant voters. . . But no one has dared to “poke the Q-Anon bear.”

Last month, as the scandal over the Jeffrey Epstein files flared, Cartoons for Democracy (CFD) began using postcards to message not just across the aisle but into deep right field. Jumping on the scandal, CFD launched a postcard campaign to likely Q-Anon voters, hoping to drive the Epstein issue to a breaking point.

To understand how quixotic it is to poke the Q-Anon Bear, consider the conspiracies this fiercely pro-MAGA group takes as gospel:

• President Trump is leading the crusade against a core of Satanistic child abusers working with Hollywood celebrities and the “Deep State;”

• A reckoning called “The Storm” featuring the round-up and arrest of pedophilic politicians and their “woke” supporters is coming any day now;

• The 2020 election was stolen — ENOUGH!

So why reach through MAGA into what used to be called “the lunatic fringe?” Erin Miller, CEO of Cartoons for Democracy, said the group saw a chance to make Epstein’s files a wedge between MAGA’s policy and personality loyalists and its conspiracist cult.

The campaign was inspired by a Heather Cox Richardson column noting that the Epstein scandal was “different” than all the rest. As Miller quotes Richardson: “All other times when some or other GOP ‘leader’ peeled away from Trump against this or that issue, they were one-offs where that person ‘joined’ the Democrats. But this is the first time the issue is homegrown amongst the MAGA movement, which means it's not anyone stripping off to join a Democratic issue, but is a genuine fracture within their base. And anytime we can lean into and therefore widen that wedge, it's good for Democrats.”

The issue, Miller added, was also ripe for CFD’s strengths — humor, imagery, and “getting past the Fox-media ‘dome’ many of these people live in.”

One might think Q-Anon, primarily an online cult, would respond more to social media ads than to the US mail. But CFD is mailing postcards to older Q-Anon believers, 50 and above, with the average age of 70, who still make mail pick up a daily ritual.

In just three weeks, “Poke the Q-anon Bear” volunteers have requested 7,000 addresses. And CFD remains active on other fronts.

This is CFD’s second postcard campaign since launching the organization on July 7, 2025. They expected to send 10,000 postcards for their first campaign, "Virginia is for Voters" but have already surpassed 25,000. Both campaigns are targeting Virginia’s Congressional District 2, which narrowly re-elected Representative Jen Kiggans last November. Kiggans has backed Trump on keeping the Epstein files secret and consistently votes for the MAGA agenda.

Without mentioning the president or MAGA, the postcards urge recipients to demand a town meeting with Kiggans. A low bar, perhaps, but Kiggans has held only one Zoom town meeting this year, which was dominated by staunch supporters. And remember that the people receiving many of these cards are Q-anon loyalists, steeped in conspiracies, so. . .

“Other campaigns get their messages across with a machete, which is great,” Miller said. “We want to complement that by being a splinter - subtle and getting under the skin and hard to get out off your mind.”

Poke the QAnon Bear Kits, as well as their other humor-driven postcard campaigns are available on their website.

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