Three Weeks To Revitalize The Dem Brand
Judging from the polls, Joe Biden and Democratic Senatorial candidates are running strong. Joe has a strong national lead and is doing well in swing states. The party has a chance of picking up seven or more seats.
It’s too early to breathe easy. But the path to a Democratic majority would be a lot easier if the party had a stronger national brand.
Too many people buy in to the Republican bullshit that the Democrats are somehow radical or dangerously left-wing. The go-to attack on Democrats is that they’re socialists or Communists. The names have little merit, but they’ve stuck.
Joe Biden has made his prudently progressive positions clear. But the Democratic Party doesn’t have a strong brand to counter Donald Trump and his name-calling propagandists. Republican lies are dogma in a large segment of the population.
This Democratic weakness has influenced the course of their campaigns. Joe Biden and down ballot candidates are keeping their distance from each other. Senatorial candidates are essentially running local campaigns, independent of him and the national party. Meanwhile, Republicans and the media make them answer for national issues. There may be sound strategic reasons for running independently, but it would be a lot easier if the party were unified, coordinated, and synergistic.
Here are some things that Democrats could do to immediately build up their brand:
As a starting point, Democrats should immediately launch a campaign to counter Republican disinformation. They may not be able to recapture members of the Trump cult, but they may be able to neutralize it or keep it from further infecting the public.
It’s not that hard: Show Democrats as Americans. Show them at picnics, playing ball, and working at hobbies. Associate them with all that’s good in America: doctors, cops, universities, amber waves of grain, soaring skyscrapers, humming factories. Humanize Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other prominent Democrats. Remind the American people that Republicans are liars and that Democrats look out for them..
Increase Democratic visibility everywhere. Trump and the Republican National Committee tweet non-stop around the clock. The Democratic National Committee has virtually no online presence. That’s crazy. Dems should start tweeting now and not stop till they can declare victory.
The same is true for the Democratic visibility on broadcast and cable news. Democrats shouldn’t have journalists representing their views. They should be on air constantly. And the subject shouldn’t be merely Covid. They should be talking about health care, the military, domestic and foreign security, education, and the economy. They should talk jobs, and housing, and meeting the most basic needs of the American people. And they should be talking about how Democrats are the party of the American Dream.
The DNC could pump up its visibility immediately by hiring a recognizable figure to serve as its principal spokesman. Al Franken would be ideal. It would be even better if they had several young, energetic, credible — even better, incredible — surrogates to speak for them.
Local and national Democrats should be seen on media continually with their allies, especially interest groups that they’ve tended to ignore, including the business and financial communities; Spanish-speakers; farmers; manufacturers; technology; and religious communities.
Unfortunately, nothing has done more to energize the Trump campaign that the slogan “Defund the Police.” The slogan, destructive protests, skyrocketing murder rates, and feckless Democratic municipal leaders are an ongoing gift to Trump. Republicans love to fight culture wars. Were it not for these polarizing issues, Trump would have virtually nothing on which to run.
It’s not too late for Dems to squash the slogan and pin the unrest on Trump. They should accuse those fomenting violence of doing Trump’s work for him (and indeed, maybe they are indeed on his payroll). Democrats everywhere should reject them and the right-wingers and agents provocateurs that are fomenting violence on our streets. Local Democrats, especially the mayors of New York, Portland, and other cities where there’s been unrest should be enlisted to denounce “Defund” (while focusing on police reform and justice for all).
Even when Dems raise issues - Russia, the USPS, the military, health care, you name it — they tend to make a big fuss but then drop it. That’s always been a mistake. They should keep these issues in the media and make them part of a comprehensive line of attack. Republicans never drop anything - Benghazi, emails, Uranium One, and Burisma are immediately recognizable. They’ve even made “masks” political. Dems have pinned nothing similar on Republicans. They should find some phrases and repeat them endlessly. Trump’s plague works. Putin’s Puppet still has a nice ring to it. The Trump Crime Family. The Trump economic disaster. Trump Terrorism.
For the media, of course, Covid is the only issue. Democrats should insist on air time to talk about other issues. They should remind the American people of every bad thing Trump has done and continues to do. The Russians haven’t gone away. In fact, they and other foreign adversaries are likely taking advance of the administration’s disarray to attack us right now. The economy is horrible.
Democrats should also be trumpeting their own polices and principles. It’s clear that Democrats are FOR health care and other domestic social programs, but it’s not clear why they’re better on traditionally Republican issues like the economy and national security. They need a specific program that they can capture in a slogan. “Biden Means Business” has a nice ring to it. “Because You Love Your Family: Vote Biden” works.
Nancy Pelosi and her Congressional Democrats should be pushing the HEROES act non-stop to revitalize the American economy. And make it clear who’s responsible for its failure. Don’t fold and give Trump a victory. Just stand up for Democratic values and let Republicans sweat.
Biden should adopt portions of Andrew Yang’s and Cory Booker’s plans for guaranteed income. Yang could provide everyone with a kind of security they haven’t known in years. Booker’s plan in particular holds the promise of creating wealth for poor people within a generation.
It’s politically criminal the way Democrats have allowed Republican/Russian disinformation to fester. There are people who actually think it’s okay to repeal Obamacare because they get their health care through the ACA. Democrats have just weeks to reeducate the public. Hammer it home: Republicans will take health insurance away from 20 million Americans. Democrats will make sure everyone gets the health care they need and afford.
Democrats should own the health care issue, not be defensive about it. They were bogged down during their primaries in the policy weeds over policies and phrases. Make it clear: The Democratic Party promises affordable health care to all Americans. Democrats protect American families. Expand Social Security.
It wouldn’t hurt if Biden promised the kind of health care that Donald Trump just received (and note that Donald just paid $750 in taxes for it).
Unfortunately, Trump beat Democrats to the phrase “America-First Health Care.” But Democrats can go for something like AmericaCare or America One Health Care (just make sure that the phrase isn’t already copyrighted).
Before Republicans launch on an all out surprise attack on Democratic patriotism (or even indict prominent Democrats), Democrats should preemptively unite against foreign interference in our elections and our lives. Democrats should attack every Republican on a daily basis on the collusion between the Russians and our elected officials. They should impugn Barr at every opportunity.
Remind the public that the Democratic Party is THE party of national security.
Biden could also build his base among young people by coming squarely for the legalization of marijuana.
Democrats are doing well right now. But they shouldn’t hold their breath till the ballots have been counted and they’re formally installed in office.
And even then.