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How does Democrat taste? [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-11-10  

Not wanting to be left out of the circular firing squad, here's my contribution. Many have written about the disaster in the media. Michael Tomasky did an excellent article about it in TNR. But you have to look beyond the media to the messaging.

What do people think when they hear "Democrat"? It's not hard to come up with some answers because we hear them whenever voters are interviewed about their vote. "Woke left." "Socialist." "Ruined the economy." "Demoncrats.” “Inflation." That's why voters are abandoning Democrats. Not because Kamala is a women or black or Biden is too old or there was no primary. And not because media failed to talk about all the good things we've done. "Democrat" leaves a bad taste in many people's mouths.

"Democrat" is a brand, just like "Apple" and "NBC" and "Walmart". The word carries a meaning and an emotional response, and that is what drives people's votes. People may be confused by all the choices on a ballot, but everyone knows and reacts to "Republican" and "Democrat."

Companies guard their brand religiously to make sure what they do and say is consistent with how they want people to think about them. They reinforce that image in every public interaction, all year, every year, every day. That is brand management. That, of course, is what Murdoch’s empire does for the RNC: manage the Republican brand, and ours, since no-one else does. The fundamental purpose of branding is to change how people feel about the brand.

We need a brand strategy. We need to change how people think about Democrats, how the word tastes. We need to communicate a view of what America stands for, because schools don’t; we need to show Democrats supporting our vision, because the media moguls won't. We need to make people feel proud to be patriotic Democrats. We need to taste good.

Obama's views of America were widely distributed, and they made people feel great. A simple poster of "Hope". Stirring speeches about America. Obama attracted people to his vision. Lots of people wanted to live in Obama's America.

Trump promised voters peace, prosperity, and security. Who wouldn't want that? Now a lot of people want to live in Trump's vison of America. It may not be real, but it sure feels good. That's our fault for not showing them a better way, and attaching it to "Democrat", because nobody else is going to. You cannot build a brand in the 6 weeks before an election; you look hypocritical when you try.

The primary role of the DNC needs to be managing the brand, exposing people about our view of America, and helping every elected official carry the same message. Branding is a long term project, and depends on consistency, lots of repetition, honesty and living up to the image. You have to not only say it, but do it. If the brand is strong, the votes will come, and so will the great candidates.

You overcome Fox news by messaging, including lots of paid media. Run clips on instagram. Advertise on youtube. On Fox business. Get quotes in news stories. Be everywhere. Build a brand. The DNC should be spending money on the brand. This is not a novel idea; some people were promoting this idea back in 2008, but to no avail.

If anyone's left standing when the firing squad runs out of ammo, maybe we could try something different.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/10/2285057/-How-does-Democrat-taste?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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