Class, Economics, Inflation, and the Democratic Party's Awful Messaging

[Yuwipi Woman]

I've said for some time that the way the Democratic Party does its messaging is both inept and self-destructive. A previous example was "Defund the Police", when they meant "reform" was particularly bad. It didn't describe what they wanted to happen and the messaging behind it required a Phd in Intersectional Studies to understand. They need phrases that are simple to understand, because like it or not, its the low information voters who decide elections. You also can't expect everyone to understand theories that come out of expensive college educational institutions. Only 34% of the people have a degree beyond high school. Luckily, 90% have completed high school so you don't need to completely dumb down the message, just make it clear and the repeat the message and repeat it again.

I say this because once again the Democrats have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. They captured Virginia from the Republicans in the last election. However their inept messaging and the Republican Party's weaponizing of the culture war put Virginia in the hands of the Republicans. They also came close to losing New Jersey, a clearly Democratic state. I knew they were going to lose in Virginia the second that McAuliffe said that parents shouldn't have any say in what their children learn in school. That's just not going to play anywhere in the US, and certainly not to rural people, who have long funded and run their own schools themselves. Perhaps he didn't mean that how it came out. He made it sound like parents couldn't be trusted to know what's best for their children. I don't know anywhere in the world that's going to play well.

There's also economic problems that are due to a variety of factors, but they haven't addressed those issues as they effect lower and middle class people. Most people are seeing huge increases in food and housing prices, assuming they can find products on the shelves. While wages are finally rising, I don't see them coming close to how much prices have gone up. If they hope the win in the next election they need to message clearly that they understand the problems faced by the average person and then develop rational polices to address it.

(Bloomberg) -- Democrats will argue for months about what led to their defeat at the ballot box on Tuesday -- whether it was their messaging, their candidates or their president. But there was consensus that the first step is to get something done on economic issues.

One day after an embarrassing loss in the Virginia gubernatorial election and a dispiritingly tight race in New Jersey, Democrats from President Joe Biden to moderate and progressive members of Congress cast passage of his infrastructure and $1.75 trillion social spending package as a panacea for further losses.

For months, the centerpiece of Biden’s legislative agenda has been stalled because of infighting among congressional Democrats. But party activists and strategists say that Democrats have to take action on so-called bread-and-butter issues, like inflation and education if they don’t want a repeat of Tuesday’s results in next year’s midterm elections.

“If things don’t change, then 2022 is going to be a very, very difficult election for Democrats,” said Jeff Horwitt, a Democratic pollster. “The good news is, there’s a year to change how voters view their own personal situation.” ....

“People are upset and uncertain about a lot of things, from Covid, to school, to jobs, to a whole range of things -- and the cost of a gallon of gasoline. And so if I’m able to pass, sign into law, my Build Back Better initiative, I’m in a position where you’re going to see a lot of those things ameliorated, quickly and swiftly. So that has to be done,” Biden said.

McAuliffe, a former governor and chair of the Democratic National Committee, lost to Youngkin, a former co-chief executive officer of the Carlyle Group Inc., in Virginia, a state Biden won by 10 points just a year ago. He took New Jersey by 16 points.

MSN

www.msn.com

And don't get me started on the infighting within the party with Manchin and Sinema.

And that's my rant for the day (ok, maybe not, but I'll try).

 

[killer b]

Defund the police wasn't a Democrat slogan was it? It was a campaign they were forced to respond to rather than something they came up with

 

[Idris2002]

It was a slogan that came out of the wider milieu that surrounds the so-called Democratic party, though, wasn't it?

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Here's an example from the Virginia debate. McAuliffe gave the election to the Republicans right here by giving the Republicans the perfect soundbite:




Younkin is an absolute nightmare. He's the former CEO of the Carlyle group, FFS.

 

[killer b]

It was a slogan that came out of the wider milieu that surrounds the so-called Democratic party, though, wasn't it?

it came out of the Black Lives Matter movement - it was never a democrat slogan, though I suppose some democrat politicians might have taken it up - either way, it's not really something you can call democrat messaging

 

[SpackleFrog]

it came out of the Black Lives Matter movement - it was never a democrat slogan, though I suppose some democrat politicians might have taken it up - either way, it's not really something you can call democrat messaging

Quite, and would have assumed the OP was well aware of that.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Quite, and would have assumed the OP was well aware of that.

Do you disagree with the premise that the Democrats suck at messaging? That they let the Republicans run over them with fearmongering and creating issues that don't really exist? I'm sure I can find other examples.

 

[Yossarian]

They're definitely terrible at countering the Republican Party's messaging - the Democratic ticket in 2020 was the two candidates from the primaries least likely to support defunding the police, Biden said countless times that he is against defunding the police, yet the Republican "DEMOCRATS WANT TO DEFUND THE POLICE" message still prevailed.

 

[Dogsauce]

Do you disagree with the premise that the Democrats suck at messaging and let the Republicans run over them with fearmongering and create anissues that don't really exist? I'm sure I can find other examples.

The republicans have a massive infrastructure of ‘grass roots’ news channels, YouTube gimps and websites constantly pumping out reactionary shit, it’s a hugely powerful machine and difficult to counter, partly because of all the money that goes into it. Just looking at some of the antivax/anti lockdown stuff and it’s full of websites and commentators pushing anti-Biden memes etc. Who are the left equivalents of Candace owens, Tucker Carlson, Turning Point etc? There’s nothing on that scale motivating the ground troops of the left (not that the mainstream Democratic party is anywhere near the left). They just don’t have the infrastructure for social media shitfuckery and can’t grasp anyones attention.

 

[Supine]

Defund the police came from the Floyd George case and BLM. Nothing to do with the dems. The republicans have tried to point towards it being a democrat idea but it isn’t.

Not sure the dems need to worry about messaging at the moment. In power they need to show they can deliver now. How are they doing? I’m a bit out of touch with US news for the last few months.

Looks like trump might be coming back which turns my stomach!

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Defund the police came from the Floyd George case and BLM. Nothing to do with the dems. The republicans have tried to point towards it being a democrat idea but it isn’t.

A number of cities with Democrats in charge have responded to the George Floyd case and BLM by cutting funding to police. Some cuts have been quite large.:

Austin -33.3%
New York -14.8%
Minneapolis - 14.8%
Seattle -11.2%
Denver -9.8%

Cities Say They Want to Defund the Police. Their Budgets Say Otherwise.

Here’s a closer look at how some major metros have handled their police budgets.

www.bloomberg.com

Once a city run mostly by the Democratic Party adopts those polices, they own them politically no matter where those policies originated (or what long-term good may result from a restructuring).

Not sure the dems need to worry about messaging at the moment. In power they need to show they can deliver now. How are they doing? I’m a bit out of touch with US news for the last few months.

But they aren't delivering. They're getting bogged down by people in their own party like Manchin and Sinema. Manchin I can understand. He's trying to hold office in a majority Democratic state. Sinema seems to just be a sellout (or possibly a sleeper). If you've ever seen her on C-span, she doesn't even take her office seriously. Here's video of her voting against a raise in the minimum wage:




When I watch that little curtsy, as she sells out the people who voted for her, I want to slap her.

Looks like trump might be coming back which turns my stomach!

This is why I'm frustrated. Its possible that we'll get worse than Trump. Tucker Carlson is considering a run and he's at least as big of an idiot. Things are really at a tipping point in the US. We'll either reform our system or we'll end any illusion of democracy. The next election is for all the marbles.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

They're definitely terrible at countering the Republican Party's messaging - the Democratic ticket in 2020 was the two candidates from the primaries least likely to support defunding the police, Biden said countless times that he is against defunding the police, yet the Republican "DEMOCRATS WANT TO DEFUND THE POLICE" message still prevailed.

The Republicans are better at roping in their lower level officials and making them repeat the party line. Getting the Democrats to do the same is like herding cats.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

The republicans have a massive infrastructure of ‘grass roots’ news channels, YouTube gimps and websites constantly pumping out reactionary shit, it’s a hugely powerful machine and difficult to counter, partly because of all the money that goes into it. Just looking at some of the antivax/anti lockdown stuff and it’s full of websites and commentators pushing anti-Biden memes etc. Who are the left equivalents of Candace owens, Tucker Carlson, Turning Point etc? There’s nothing on that scale motivating the ground troops of the left (not that the mainstream Democratic party is anywhere near the left). They just don’t have the infrastructure for social media shitfuckery and can’t grasp anyones attention.

There are a few on the left who nearly equivalent to those on the right. Thom Hartmann, Samantha Bee, Rachel Maddow, and others are fairly famous, but for the most part you are right. The Republicans have had this machine in place for several decades now and the Democrats have developed only a small infrastructure in response. There's also no Democratic equivalent to the Federalist Society. I'm pretty sure that when the illusion of democracy is revealed, it will be a Federalist Society judge who makes the ruling. They should be funding and working on both of those angles. They raised record levels of contributions in the last election cycle. They should use some of it to build a better messaging infrastructure.

 

[platinumsage]

Well it’s easy to say the vaccines are dangerous or that Obama is a muslim or that not all the votes were checked properly. If you’re saying the Dems ought to play that game I struggle to see what would they could come up with?

 

[killer b]

The Republicans are better at roping in their lower level officials and making them repeat the party line. Getting the Democrats to do the same is like herding cats.

again, this doesn't really seem true - the whole tea party movement thing, Trump's unexpected win of the republican nomination and the ructions it caused, all that stuff - if anything the civil war in the republican party has been fiercer, it's just that it's more or less won now and the really awful side won.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Well it’s easy to say the vaccines are dangerous or that Obama is a muslim or that not all the votes were checked properly. If you’re saying the Dems ought to play that game I struggle to see what would they could come up with?

I'm not saying that at all. I'm suggesting that they should spend more time on economic and class issues and less on identify politics. The average person of any race in the US is feeling stressed right now. Food prices have gone up quickly. Some of the items like canned goods have gone up 15%. Meat has gone up more. Home heating oil has more than doubled so people who used to pay $800 to heat their home over the winter are spending $2000. That's just not sustainable for an average family. For a lot of people, its going to be a long, cold winter. Add to that the fact that people will go to the store and find empty shelves, and they could be excused in thinking something isn't working here. You need to address those fears or you'll lose the next election.

 

[NoXion]

The DNC have displayed a consistent hostility to even the mildest of class politics. I don't think that antagonistic attitude will change unless there's there's a shake-up there.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

The DNC have displayed a consistent hostility to even the mildest of class politics. I don't think that antagonistic attitude will change unless there's there's a shake-up there.

They have. Predictably they blamed their progressive base for the loses they had in Tuesday's election, rather than the fact that they had lousy candidates who couldn't couldn't carry a message in their left boot. They just never learn from previous mistakes.

The Republicans on the other hand have an entirely different strategy. As usual this guy explains it better than I could:




To be honest with you, I've considered changing my registration to Republican. Don't worry, I'm not turning fascist on you. I have some thought behind it. Since I live in a very red state and anyone elected will inevitably be a Republican, it makes some sense: Our governor is being term-limited out in the next election cycle, so the next governor will be decided in the Republican primary. If I'm a register Republican, I could actually vote in their primary, and at least have some say in electing a less crazy governor. The frontrunner at the moment is a crazy Trumper. I know I'm going to get flak for proposing that strategy.

 

[NoXion]

They have. Predictably they blamed their progressive base for the loses they had in Tuesday's election, rather than the fact that they had lousy candidates couldn't couldn't carry a message in their left boot. They just never learn from previous mistakes.

The Republicans on the other hand have an entirely different strategy. As usual this guy explains it better than I could:




To be honest with you, I've considered changing my registration to Republican. Don't worry, I'm not turning fascist on you. I have some thought behind it. Since I live in a very red state and anyone elected will inevitably be a Republican, it makes some sense: Our governor is being term-limited out in the next election cycle, so the next governor will be decided in the Republican primary. If I'm a register Republican, I could actually vote in their primary, and at least have some say in electing a less crazy governor. The frontrunner at the moment is a crazy Trumper. I know I'm going to get flak for proposing that strategy.

You're not the first person I've heard suggesting something along those lines, and I think it has some merit. I'm not too familiar with how US political subdivisions work, but how do you think such a strategy with interact with the reality of gerrymandering?

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

You're not the first person I've heard suggesting something along those lines, and I think it has some merit. I'm not too familiar with how US political subdivisions work, but how do you think such a strategy with interact with the reality of gerrymandering?

I don't think it would have that much effect on gerrymandering. Even if you managed to get more moderate Republicans on the ballot, they're all going to gerrymander the shit of their districts. A better approach is blocking gerrymandering through the courts, which Trump unfortunately packed. All I'm trying to do is to influence the Republican party to field less awful candidates in an avowedly red state. I'm not sure its possible though. You'd have to get more people on board than just me. You'd also run the risk of Republicans registering as Democrats, which I have heard is already happening in mostly Democratic districts.

 

[NoXion]

I don't think it would have that much effect on gerrymandering.

My apologies, I meant the other way around, would the current state of gerrymandering have any effect on the kind of entryist strategies you mention?

All I'm trying to do is to influence the Republican party to field less awful candidates in an avowedly red state. I'm not sure its possible though. You'd have to get more people on board than just me. You'd also run the risk of Republicans registering as Democrats, which I have heard is already happening in mostly Democratic districts.

To be honest if that leads to the break-up the two-party system, then that sounds like a good thing to me.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

My apologies, I meant the other way around, would the current state of gerrymandering have any effect on the kind of entryist strategies you mention?

Thanks for the clarification. TBH, I'm not certain I've worked that out yet. Probably why I posted the idea here, because this is usually a good place to bounce ideas around.

To be honest if that leads to the break-up the two-party system, then that sounds like a good thing to me.

Given how corrupt our politicians (and therefore the people), I'm not certain that will help much. We are definitely due for an overhall--just not the type Republicans envision with bodies dropping from helicopters.

 

[SpackleFrog]

Do you disagree with the premise that the Democrats suck at messaging? That they let the Republicans run over them with fearmongering and creating issues that don't really exist? I'm sure I can find other examples.

No, I don't disagree but I never said I did. My point was that "The Dems want to defund the police" is Republican messaging.