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What We Need to Say - Keys to Democratic Messaging
by Janet Singer, CGB Political Director
What we say and how we say it matters. I listen to many podcasts, so you don’t have to. Here’s the wisdom I gained from listening to Ezra Klein interview Anat Shenker-Osorio and Sean McElwee, and Joe Trippi interview Simon Rosenberg.
We need contrast with the Republicans. Go on offense against everything that they stand to take from us in order to hand the riches to the wealthy and powerful few.
“Today, the wealthy and powerful few hold down our wages, deny us benefits, and refuse to contribute to the schools, roads and services all of us rely upon. We need real leaders who stand up for every single one of us and will make corporations pay what they owe."
Loudness and repetitiveness in our messaging:
“They give you mobs, we give you jobs.”
and
Push Back: Watch this master class: Michigan lawmaker says, ‘We will not let hate win’
How do we do this?
We must understand the difference between things that are popular with voters and things that make voters go to the polls.
Democratic policies are popular. Republican stances on guns, tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, laws making it more difficult for people to vote, and climate-change denial are wildly unpopular.
We need messages that explain why you’re feeling what you’re feeling:
“There is a wealthy and powerful few who have rigged the rules in their own favor. MAGA Republicans will bring tax cuts for the wealthy that they’re going to pay for by making cuts to your health care, Social Security, and your child’s education.”
Present something that people desire:
“We all want a better future for every kid in America.” We can get excited about and attached to that message.
Contrast what you stand for and are going to deliver and what the opposition is doing and why.
“What keeps us safe? — it’s living in communities where we have what we need. It’s passing common-sense gun safety laws, and not being beholden to the N.R.A. It’s everyone being able to get mental health services and have wages they can count on, and being able to put food on the table. It’s after-school programs that keep our kids occupied and off the streets, creating a brighter future that they can look forward to.”
Repeated Republican lies beat unrepeated truths every time. So let us repeat the truth:
“Republicans have led us into 3 consecutive recessions. Democratic leadership has brought consistent economic growth. Under the Democrats the deficit has gone down. Under the Republicans the deficit has gone up. Over the past 33 years, there have been 44 million new jobs created in the United States. Of that, 42 million have come under Democratic presidents.” (Clinton, Obama, Biden).
When we relate to a message, we will repeat it. We need to think of our messages as batons that we are passing to the next person, so we can get a message to spread.
Center the voter.
“Yes, we’ve gotten stuff done. Yes, we’ve pushed forward on some of our agenda. But we need to keep going because all of us value our freedom–the freedom to vote, the freedom to choose whether and when we have families, the freedom for our kids to thrive with excellent public education, the freedom for every single person to grow up healthy and safe.”
When we give our friends, family, and acquaintances a message worth repeating, that is how we break through the noise. Remember when we started saying “love is love” and everyone added a rainbow to their Facebook avatar? That's an example of winning the messaging wars.
When we frame the conversation on our own terms, call out what they’re doing, ascribe motivation to it, then we can have the debate on our terms.
“We need to raise taxes on the corporations and the wealthy who are profiting at a time in which prices are spiraling out of control for you.”
“Today, MAGA Republicans want to turn us against each other, hoping we’ll shame and blame new immigrants or act out against trans youth or outlaw our very basic right to decide whether and when we have kids.”
While negative fear-based messaging is incredibly effective on the Right, our base is activated by anger, defiance and resistance. When we debate on our own terms, we will engage more people and move them to act.
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