The 2020 election did not turn out to be the blue wave that some Democrats expected. While the Biden/Harris ticket won the popular vote, Democrats lost seats in the House, did not flip a single state legislature, and are clinging to hopes that runoff victories in Georgia will result in a 50-50 Senate.
There is a big debate on why this happened. In my opinion, the problem is a lack of simple, bold messaging. The Democratic party has all the correct policies but lacks simple, repetitious messaging.
For example, if you asked anyone on the street what is the animated spokesperson for AFLAC insurance, I'll bet 9 out of 10 will tell you it is a duck. The AFLAC duck is simple, repeated in every commercial, and therefore the duck sticks in the memory of most people.
This is a common advertising concept. The more impressions an ad makes, the more likely consumers will remember your product when it’s time to buy. AFLAC's advertising is so effective; I cannot think who else I would call for a second quote on supplemental insurance.
Republicans understand this concept of a simple message repeated over and over. Democrats make messaging harder than it is.
In every Republican political ad I saw in north Texas, where I live, two phrases were repeated every time regardless of the GOP political candidate.
1. 'Democrats want to defund the police and let violent criminals out of jail.' This, of course, is a distortion of what the defund-the-police movement is about. No Democrat has suggested letting violent felons out of jail.
2. 'Republicans will protect people with pre-existing conditions.' This, of course, is an outright lie considering the GOP is actively in court trying to overturn the whole ACA.
But it worked!
I voted Democratically, and I still remember these phrases. In contrast, I cannot recall any clear, simple message that was consistent across all Democratic candidate ads. Democrats leave their candidates to re-invent the wheel with every campaign.
Simple, repetitious messaging works because most people are not political news junkies. They have lives, kids, jobs, etc. They're too busy to dig into the nuances of every political debate. They need simple phrases repeated often to make decisions.
Since 1992, Democrats have won the popular vote in every presidential election except 2004. That’s 7 popular vote wins to only 1 loss. Democrats have the most popular policies for those who have the time to be informed. IMO if Democrats could master simple, consistent messaging across all candidates, they could win more of the less informed vote. Perhaps then, Democrats could win at the local and state level too.
So, here are a few bold, simple suggestions:
A. 'Everything the GOP says is a lie.' The GOP has no trouble lying about Democratic positions. See points 1 and 2 above. So, why are Democrats so timid about calling them out on this? Every GOP position IS based on lies. From trickle-down economics to the latest, mail-in-voting-is-corrupt, it's all a lie. Let's call it out and repeat it often.
B. 'The modern GOP is racist.' A bold but simple truth that Democrats are afraid to say. I use the term ‘modern’ specifically to differentiate today’s GOP from those who claim the GOP is still the party of Lincoln. The two parties completely re-aligned after the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts were passed in the 1960s by Democrat President Johnson. All those opposed to these laws moved to the Republican party. Today, the GOP leadership knows most of their base is motivated by racist dog whistles like ‘food-stamp-president’ or ‘build the wall.’ Let’s call it what it is – racist.
C. Democrats are pro-choice and pro-life. Hear me out. Everyone knows what 'pro-choice' means as defined by the right. But why do Democrats allow the right to control this definition? Democrats have allowed the GOP to steal the phrase, 'pro-life' when in reality, the GOP only wants to force women to have babies - like in the Handmaid's Tale. But after the baby is born, the GOP does not support any policies that help raise that same baby. Why is that considered a 'pro-life' position?
Democrats should say that they, for example, support strong public educations because that is 'pro-life.' Democrats should say they support universal healthcare because that is 'pro-life.' Democrats should say they support sensible gun laws because that saves lives, which is 'pro-life.’ Democrats should say they support the humane treatment of desperate immigrants at the border because that is 'pro-life.' And so on. You get the idea. Nearly every Democratic position can be positioned as ‘pro-life.’ Let’s re-define that phrase.
In the current environment, some Democrats may not think this will work. I ask you to ignore how these phrases strike you on their first impression. Think about how they would sound if repeated consistently over time.
Republicans got the complete lie of 'repeal-and-replace' to work over 10 years! It was bold, simple, and repeated often. Just like the AFLAC duck, it stuck in the minds of the voter. It worked to get Republicans control of Congress from 2010-2018. The GOP never even had to produce a real replacement plan!
That’s the power of simple, bold, and consistently REPEATED messaging.