Well last week the news reported Ken Martin was chosen to head the DNC. My reaction was who the hell is Ken Martin? Ok, I read up and within Democratic Circles he’s highly respected, knows everyone important and can foster working together and a great fundraiser. However he seems about as dynamic as a wooden statue and we NEED someone who can get out there and lead the messaging war (which we are losing worse than ever) to the GOP. Parkland Shooting Survivor David Hogg has just been chosen as Vice-Chair and he proved years ago he can mount a public campaign on an issue. It’s a start but he’s awfully young. We really need leaders who are well known and forceful, people journalists can’t ignore to be day-in and day-out firing double barreled blasts at Trump and the Republicans. In simple, devastating terms that ANYONE can “get.” Thom Hartman has just provided a wealth of ammunition!
Alternet has posted Hartman’s opinion piece and it’s a thing of beauty. It will take you less than two minutes to read and I guarantee you this – again and again you’ll be asking ‘Why haven’t Democratic leaders like Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, Jamie Raskin, Sheldon Whitehouse and others been saying this?’ Or the freaking Lincoln Project which seems to have gone almost dark since the election? We keep hearing about how our messaging doesn’t ‘break though’ and clearly it doesn’t. I also hear and read plenty of hand-wringing about how to talk to average, everyday Americans in a way that will make them pay attention. To say to themselves ‘Yeah – that makes sense. I get that and need to DO something including VOTE. For the candidates and Party that believes THAT. What Republicans are saying and doing ain’t that so I need to look at the Democrats.’
I swear if you read Hartman’s piece you’ll wonder why the hell OUR side, and more importantly candidates and their messaging machines haven’t figured this out. I know in my case with folks in my large apt. building (it’s an over 55 place) I have more or less civil short interactions with Trump folks sometimes and I nail them with ‘What if Obama or Biden had said/done that?’ and they start mumbling. What Hartman writes about takes this to a whole new level. If I had a working printer I’d print out his article and post it on the bulletin board! Hell, if I could afford it I’d have five hundred copies made and leave it in the door of every apartment in my building and also in the “twin” old folks apt. building in my complex.
Hartman starts out with an exercise in turning the tables. He accurately states that if OBAMA had incited the J6 riots, both he and the rioters would have been branded as “Cop Killers.” And pardoning them like Trump did would have every single Republican calling for impeachment. He then accurately states that if say Bill Clinton pulled the security of Mark Milly or John Bolton that Republicans would accuse him of attempted murder, and that he was no better than a mob boss sanctioning a hit. From IRAN no less! Then Hartman writes:
And that’s just scratching the tiniest surface of opportunities Democrats have blown in the past week to attack Trump and Republicans for very real violations of law, norms, and the Constitution.
Hartman goes on to provide a lot more. Specific examples of how we ‘muddy our messaging’ instead of talking in clear “kitchen table” (as Biden did for 2020) terms. For example instead of “we need to expand social safety net programs” be direct and say as LBJ did that “No child in America should go to bed hungry.” And add that childhood hunger and poverty are fine with Republicans who just want to protect their tax cuts for their rich friends at Mar-a-Lago. Hartman goes on to talk about seizing the populist high ground, citing FDR who smiled when noting rich people hated him saying he welcomed their hatred! I don’t know about you but I think this is something where, if he wants to stay in the fight (lord knows he’s earned some quiet years) Joe Biden, a modest man financially by Presidential standards leaving office could be effective. His people kept him on a leash. Let him be Dark Brandon and TORCH Trump and the billionaire class for having the gall to say ‘all of US are going to have to endure some pain.’ Hartman notes the need to KEEP IT SIMPLE.
In today’s social media politics if you’re not fighting as if it’s war, you’re losing. Instead of arguing for “fair” taxation, say, “Trump wants to kill your healthcare and torch your kid’s school to pay for his billionaire tax cuts!”
He’s not done. Not by a long shot. He says we have to be ruthless in tearing down the oligarch class and the Republicans they own. Instead of general terms get specific and personal. And don’t be afraid to use fear (we SHOULD be afraid over so much of what is happening) but make sure to offer some hope. He says don’t talk about Trump being dangerous but that he wants to be a dictator and destroy our democracy. Hartman points out any marketing pro will tell you the best sales pitches involve both fear AND hope:
“Trump is tearing down our government so he can give its pieces to his rich Mar-a-Lago crowd, but we’re fighting to stop him so America can have a revival of the middle class.”
Hartman talks about the need to tell stories instead of facts. He doesn’t say so but we all know the effort the GOP has made in the last forty plus years to dumb-down the electorate. Fact-based arguments make the average person’s eyes glaze over. Hartman points out the need to tell a real life story about the impact of GOP policies:
Instead of saying, “Healthcare should be a human right,” tell a personal story: “Sarah, a single mom in Ohio, works two jobs, but she can’t afford her son’s insulin. That’s wrong.”
He talks about the ever increasing draconian effects of the GOP’s war on access to abortion and reproductive rights. Stories of real people who have proven willing to go on the record are out there. Plentiful in fact. New ones come up all the time and in new places and we should be using it to keep the issue fresh in voter’s minds. Hartman concludes this section with this:
Humans, after all, are story machines; it’s how we transmit culture and the rules of society (The little boy who cried “wolf,” The emperor’s new clothes, The ant and the grasshopper, etc.). Every bill, every campaign, every attack on Republicans should have a relatable human story attached to it.
Hartman’s next point is REPETITION. He cites an old advertising standard that people don’t recognize (internalize) a message until they’ve heard or read it seven times. These days I think it takes rather more than seven times but you get the point he’s making. “Build the Wall”, “Fake News” and “Make America Great Again” didn’t get embedded in everyone’s brains (whether you believe it or recognize it as the bullshit it is) overnight. It took constant repetition but that crap haunts our dreams now.
Hartman’s next point is to appeal to American Patriotism and Values. He cites Lincoln and FDR, and even LBJ who talked about how conservatives got and kept poor white people on their side for a century (we can add the years since to make it now a century and a half) and with his ‘southern Democrat’ roots knew what he was talking about. He famously said “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” Anyone want to tell me the GOP hasn’t been doing exactly that once the migration of the old southern Democrats to the GOP happened after LBJ signed landmark Civil Rights legislation? Anyway Hartman writes:
Democrats must reclaim the language of patriotism. “The real America is one where every vote counts, every worker gets a fair wage, and every kid has a future.” “MAGA racism and sexism should have no place in our country.” “Our founders fought and died for freedom, not for tax breaks for Trump’s rich Mar-a- Lago friends.”
Hartman’s next point is one I’ve tried to make. Like all dictators or wannabe dictators Trump can’t stand ridicule. I’m betting neither can most of the prominent Republicans on Capitol Hill. You think “Gym Jordan” doesn’t burn inside over that nickname, or comments about him and the wrestlers he allowed to be abused? You think James Comer isn’t burned by having even fellow Republicans criticize and even mock his ineffective committee leadership. He couldn’t even marshal a single committee vote for Articles of Impeachment against Biden. And Trump? He’s such an easy target we can hit him with our eyes closed. Hartman digs into that with some relish:
But don’t forget ridicule: When Marco Rubio pointed out the size of Trump’s tiny hands in 2016, he obsessed over it for more than a year. He hates having it pointed out to him that he’s bald and the plugs across the front of his hairline didn’t go right (as my wife, Louise, said to his face). Combover Don. The little-fingered dictator. Stormy’s little mushroom.
Instead of claiming, “Trump is unfit for office,” say, “America deserves a president who can spell.” Turn his absurdity into a joke.
Hartman’s last major point is the need to inspire a BOLD vision. He says Republicans haven’t been afraid to shoot for the moon on vision stuff but lately we seem to have lost the knack. He points out how from the beginning JFK made a literal moon shot part of his administration’s goals, and coined the term New Frontier. And that Obama coined “Yes We Can” and that we need to do the same. Come up with a few words that repeated over and over get parked in people’s minds. He brings it back to simplifying our message and making it relatable:
Instead of wonky crap like, “We need a more progressive tax system,” say, “Imagine an America where no one struggles just to survive. That future is possible.”
What Hartman doesn’t say is that this country isn’t as smart as it used to be. It’s not as dumbed down as Republicans want, not that they won’t fight like hell to get it to that point. Still, if not as sharp overall as we once were Americans have since Reagan had an increasingly difficult time just getting by. It’s not that the average American isn’t able to understand what he (correctly) calls “wonky” talk but rather they simply don’t have the time and energy. So we need to simplify what we say and say what we mean in terms that any person can relate to. Tell real life stories. That’s how to break through:
The bottom line is that Democrats and progressives win when they speak emotionally, define their enemies, tell human stories, and offer a vision worth fighting for. They lose when they sound like bureaucrats or assume that facts alone will persuade people
I love how he ended his piece with saying he hopes the Party will relearn some of these things and ‘begin to kick some Republican ass.”
In the meantime I hope you will share the link to his opinion piece far and wide. You can do what I hope to do – find someone who can print it up for me so I can post it in my building. For damned sure you need to contact the offices of Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer and frankly ANY elected Democrat and demand they read it. Then start right now, TODAY putting it into action. Also make the point saying what Hartman suggests only once (or twice) isn’t enough. Not nearly enough. We need multiple people talking like this multiple times a week. Over, and over and over.
It’s not just semantics. Words can be powerful if the right ones are used. In the right way by the right people and in the right settings.
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I did read the whole piece. It WAS very good.
Thing is that ever since 2016 folks have been talking about Dem’s “messaging” woes. Thomm Hartmann’s been around since Air America came & went. Many, many others, both professional and not, have come up with great ideas for messages and messaging.
NONE OF THEM HAVE BEEN EMPLOYED.
That is the problem.
Politics on the stumps 101. Frightening that it has to be pointed out. Print it for every Dem office; post it to every Dem post holder and nominee as part of the job description. Hold workshops and tutorials for ’em all. Break down into each element and have each recurring in turn as agenda items. Embed into consciousness within and without the Party. And don’t hold back,
Exactly. I’d also add that EVERY effing political consultant our Congress Critters have paid small fortunes to be called into the office, forced to listen to this being read to them and asked point blank why THEY weren’t able to come up with this type of material. Maybe, just maybe they need to have some staff that actually sorts through the comments that come in to their local offices. See what voters who take the time to call in have to say. Also, I don’t care how experienced they are, they need to REGULARLY consult with psychologists and specialists in communications skills -both one-on-one and groups. Learn how to TRULY listen. And how to adjust their own responses and manner of speaking to those voters they talk to.
Voters don’t want to impressed by how sophisticated they are, but rather walk away believing the politician actually paid attention to them. Truly understood their concerns. And that IF the politician had a solution they and the Party are implementing or working on that it does in fact address the problem/issue. In a way THEY can understand, and that will make a difference in their lives and those of people they know.
One of the things Biden was once masterful at, despite his verbal gaffes was being able to talk to people like they were sitting at the kitchen table late at night after the kids were in bed trying to figure out how to make it through the week, and the month. I will always feel he got surrounded by political “gurus” who even if they came up with modest means like J.D. Vance long ago left them behind. The more they cut Biden off, the more people lost their faith in the “Uncle Joe” they’d elected in overwhelming numbers in 2020. I think Biden realized that at some point but couldn’t make the changes needed without attracting a HUGE wave of media coverage of his WH being in disarray. I will always believe that realization set in with him and to an extent broke his spirit.
James Carville’s famous “It’s the economy stupid” needs updating to a more broad theme. “LISTEN to and talk TO voters, not DOWN to them.” Our policies resonate with the majority of voters, and on some issues overwhelmingly so. If voters fail to understand that I truly believe it’s because the current crop of political consultants held in high regard by the Democratic Party are full of shit. They make things way more complicated than it should be. They are the political equivalent of computer software engineers that want to “boil the ocean” by which I mean creating some huge “extra” upgrade to fix a common user complaint instead of just fixing a pretty well-defined problem!
I just wanna throw in one thumbs up for Rick Wilson and Lincoln Project. The group does seem quieter, but it was the first I know of to reveal the real names of the incel boyfriends of Peter Thiel who are now in charge of the Treasury database!! 👍
Rick Wilson knows how to ‘git er done’ when it comes to attacking Trump and GOP bullshit. I’m glad he’s done what he’s been doing with LP. However he and many of the others there have a LOT to atone for. Don’t forget Wilson and other key LP players spent an awful lot of years prior to Trump’s takeover of the GOP as key messaging strategists. They sold the masses an awful lot of bullshit GOP talking point and usually quite well. Like everyone else they didn’t realize the mutated monster that rose from the toxic political swamp they created until it was too late. They likely recognized before most they had created something that couldn’t be controlled before most people did. If guilt drove them to help create the LP then by god they SHOULD feel guilty.
But they weren’t as active during the election as I would have liked and as I’ve said I’m disappointed they have said/done so little since November. If blogs like this can get up off the mat and start fighting back LP sure as hell should have done so by now!
Tom is on daily on Free Speech TV. As I’ve ranted many times…asking the rich comfortable democrats to FIGHT LIKE HELL AT EVERY TURN OF THE ROAD, is an abject failure. They are cowards, unwilling to risk losing their cushy jobs. We didn’t send Quakers with good pacifist arguments to Normandy…we sent 140,000 ARMED MEN,(boys in reality). As George C Scott said in Patton…you don’t win a war by dying for your country…you win by killing the other sobs and making them die for their country. We had the bully pulpit for four goddamn years, and the Democrats should have raised hell DAILY…instead they let Trump rule the airwaves. So they traded their obsession with appearing reasonable for our democracy. They surrendered the field to the evil gop, who has never been reasonable in any way. Anyone who doesn’t see the real dangers WE’RE ALL IN is living in a fool’s paradise. We’re here thanks to the Democrats. They had an opportunity to stop this and gave the phuck up.