(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Democrats must start winning on "messaging" [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-07 “I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.” ― Adlai Stevenson Democrats make the average American richer. Since the great political shift in the 20th century, when Nixon’s 1960s/70s Southern Strategy peeled the good old boys away from the Democrats — followed by Reagan's 1980s seduction of conservative northern whites — everyone except the very wealthy, have prospered more under Democratic administrations than the alternative. Unfortunately for the Democrats, not many people know that. A Washington Post poll shows that 64% of Americans do not think President Biden’s administration has accomplished much. Predictably, 93% of Republicans rate Biden as ineffectual. Sadly, even 22% of Democrats think he has been sitting on his hands. The poll is a double whammy for Democrats. A lack of enthusiasm for Biden will depress the Democratic vote — although the silver lining is that this will not do much to increase Republican numbers. Worse, the belief Biden is not getting much done will push independents — 66% of whom are unimpressed with the administration — into the GOP’s column. Why do the Democrats get so little credit for their success? After all, GDP , inflation , budget deficits , and stock market performance are better with Democrats in charge. The unemployment results are less one-sided — mainly because the last three Democratic presidents (Clinton, Obama, and Biden) inherited terrible employment numbers from their GOP predecessors. Yet the GOP has a reputation for fiscal sobriety and economic expertise. (N.B. Economic statistics are like the Bible. A cherry-picker can usually find something to support their position. Liberals could make the case that Democrats are even better with the economy than their good raw numbers suggest. And conservatives could argue that their guys are not as bad as the numbers say. Regardless, no amount of data massage and manipulation can ‘prove’ that Republicans are better with money than Democrats.) The Democrats have done a lot of good in the last two years — despite a razor-thin majority in the Senate, with two saboteurs, Sinema and Manchin, in their ranks. They have passed bills funding infrastructure, protecting gay and mixed marriages, promoting domestic technology, tackling climate change, addressing gun violence and violence against women, reducing medical costs, and mitigating a pandemic. Further, Biden pardoned everyone convicted of federal marijuana possession charges; reduced student loan debt (pending SCOTUS); re-engaged with our allies to confront Russian adventurism in Ukraine; ended the Afghanistan conflict, our longest war; and installed the first Black female Supreme Court Justice. So why does he get so little credit? The answer lies partly in the GOP’s genius for bumper sticker sloganeering — “death panels”, “socialist overreach,” “woke,” “gay agenda,” and “indoctrination.” The Democrats, on the other hand, are explainers — and who has the time? As the joke has it, no matter the subject, every liberal bumper sticker ends with “continued on next bumper sticker.” In fairness, this reflects a difference between right and left-wing voters. Conservatives like it simple. Liberals like it elucidated. Comment streams reflect this dichotomy. On the right, the remarks tend to “what he said” (“he” because conservatives do not do pronouns). While on the left, there is nuance — which is great for debates but death in politics. Adding to their marketing woes, too many Democrats play fair. They have little stomach for bald-faced lies, A liberal reading this may protest that the left should not sink to the right's level — as Michelle Obama said “When they go low, we go high.” But moral victories do not get you elected. Only winners can get things done. H.L. Mencken offers an incisive analysis. “The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.” If liberals cannot lie, they need to do better at calling out the liars across the aisle. They need to do it repeatedly and with an iron fist. They must use the word “liar” — not pusillanimous euphemisms like dissimulator, equivocator, fabulist, or prevaricator. And the word “lie” — not fabrication, misstatement, mendacity, or falsehood. They should heed Churchill’s advice, “Short words are best, and the old words, when short, are best of all.” Say no to “pusillanimous euphemisms.” Say yes to “weasel words.” Look at the Adlai Stevenson quote at the top. You can tell he is a liberal. “I have been thinking”, “a proposition”, and “will stop telling” are flaccid constructions. The message is better cut in half: “Here’s the deal. When Republicans stop lying about Democrats, we’ll stop telling the truth about them.” — 16 words vs. 32. You get the point. Beyond steel-hard brevity, Democrats need to stick to a unified message. Right-wing media is like Star Trek’s Borg. They appear to be individuals. Yet they all speak identical simplistic phrases, over and over. It is their cult’s mantra. The Democrats should not be so mindless. But they should be that disciplined. They must keep their policy debates behind closed doors. Tonight Joe Biden has the President’s annual opportunity to be the center of attention. For an hour or so, he will say what he wants to say. The Democrats will applaud. The Republicans will squirm and make faces. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will give the GOP’s response in English with words no one will remember. Rep Juan Ciscomani will offer the GOP’s response in Spanish. Then Rep. Delia Ramirez will give the progressives' reaction to them all — why? Today is only one day. There are 636 more days left until the general election on Nov 5th, 2024. On every one of those days, the Democrats need to hammer a unified message — short, punchy, and memorable. They have been wickedly successful — now they must make the public know that. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/7/2151374/-Democrats-must-start-winning-on-messaging Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/