See “Winter on Fire”. I fear this is the way we dig ourselves out. One of the best lines in the documentary was, “The voice of the people is the voice of God.”
Absolutely. The Dem leadership needs to learn to tell a story. They keep banging their heads afainst the wall with ineffective tactics. Many of us do want to know the numbers, but a significant portion of the population votes by emotion. Governing requires one set of skills, but campaigning - messaging - requires something totally different.
Part of the reason these stories worked for republicans is because they repeated them over and over again on a loop on places like Fox News. Their motivation was not about the victim. It was a tool to scare people and get them to believe wild eyed criminal migrants were lurking on every corner in America. They had an anti immigration, racist agenda that we are now seeing the destructive culmination of. They also cleverly managed to make it look like democrats didn’t care about the victims, knowing full well democrats were more sympathetic to immigrants in general. I’m in favor of democrats telling stories but not that kind or for the reason the right tells them. With this hideous bill passing we will have many opportunities to share stories of those who have suffered first hand from this bill, but our motivation in my view is to help voters see the human cost of this cruel bill. We don’t need to put it on a loop but we can hold town halls with real stories of the consequences of these cuts. We can shine a spot light in ads and, in our own local papers and communities. Defeating these bastards is going to take all of us not just lawmakers showing the human cost of what the republicans have done. There’s a lot of work ahead and many stories we will be able to tell.
Very good idea to begin documenting the results (fallout?) from this bill. But knowing progressives, they will concentrate on inner city minorities, rainbow groups, and undocumented immigrants. Even those MAGA's that will be devastated by the loss of Medicaid and/or SNAP--and there will be millions--will be unmoved, or even encouraged, by those examples. Another concern is that many of the most fervent troglodytes, if severely impacted, will still love tRump and blame it on the "liberal commies." A sad example of a Rump supporter: the father of the baby who died from measles said that if he had it to do over, he would still not vaccinate his child.
Unfortunately I don’t think a lot of Americans understand what’s in this bill yet. This isn’t the most informed country. The job ahead is to make them aware because as soon as people do understand the hideous nature of it they hate it. The health aspect is getting the most focus but the enormous amount going to immigration enforcement is disturbing too. Lots more concentration camps to come. There is no question that the republicans will do all they can to mess with the midterms but if we have them I think their political suicide pact to please their dear leader could give us house and maybe senate now too. Stopping Trump would go a long ways if we could so we have a lot of work ahead. We’re in a golden position.
Of all your many excellent comments, the second sentence is TOPS!!! As HL Mencken said: Nobody ever went broke underestimating the American public.
You may be right about what happens when people are directly affected by the bill, particularly Medicaid and SNAP. Aside from sillyhats and Bund-type campaign rallies, MAGA is ruled by self-interest. That's why the D's have to tone down their infatuation with Rainbows, unicorns, and migrants, and shine the light on how MAGA hurts everyday troglodytes.
I think that what happens in NJ this election will be an interesting indicator for next year (and yes, I still think there will be elections; SCOTUS does exhibit a spine when it is absolutely necessary. Normally (as repeated ad nauseum on NJ.com), voters switch every 8 years (unless a governor is really terrible, like Florio or Corzine). This year will be different. In addition to the Democrats surprisingly picking a solid, intelligent, experienced candidate (I will not insult her by saying "and a woman"; she's earned her praise without that crutch), the R candidate is stuck spouting MAGA. I voted for him last time; if I lived in NJ now, I would vote for Mikie, not as a protest (which is usually why I vote) but because she is the best gubernatorial candidate since Chrisite the First.
In answer to your questions, shouldn't D's fire all consultants and staff who have been involved with communications, PR and marketing. But wait, they all have experience with failure and should be allowed to re-apply showing how they will learn from the failures of the past 10 years. (Biden election being a unicorn). For that matter, shouldn't Jeffries and Schumer and leaders of allied groups offer their resignations given how many losses we have had since January/
Republicans often excel at simplifying complex issues into clear, concise narratives and slogans, even if lacking nuance. They consistently reinforce these messages across various media, leveraging a unified front and tapping into emotional appeals and perceived shared values, creating a strong, memorable brand
We could’ve been talking about Heather Heyer for the past 8 years to blunt their narratives, but most elected Democrats seem to have an aversion to crass lowbrow narratives. Sadly, if you don’t, then you lose.
I fully agree with the concept. The thing is, it needs national publicity. Perhaps a national TV commercial all over the country publicizing it for weeks. Come on DNC spend that cash!
I could facetiously say that the Democrats could put more emphasis on supporting the right of a very few 6' biological males to compete in women's sports, or find yet another individual immigrant who was deported, but that would serve no purpose.
Unfortunately, the American public, apparently steeped in religious tradition, seems to have absolutely no interest in hearing about poor people being denied healthcare, and even less interest if it involves undocumented children.
Julie... I'm a fan and... I'm begging you to take this one down. There is NOTHING the Democrats can do now.
Democrats have shown ZERO capacity to even connect with the American people in any meaningful way, much less message effectively since Reagan punched them in the face and they've been afraid of their own shadow ever since.
Now that we are as far down into the vortex of Fascism as we are... the idea that we have time to wait for them to learn to message seems crazy and even if they did... Republicans would just take a blowtorch to it! Brace for impact!
Unfortunately viewing immigrants being being abused by masked militia has done the trick so it might take pictures of “white babies and grandmas” dying and suffering. Little blonde pigtailed hair blue eyed children starving and malnutrition destroying their little bodies…
I think Democrats tried with the Obrego Garcia case. But they latched on too tightly to the story of Obrego Garcia being a “Maryland Dad” rather than a man sent to prison after being denied due process. The denial of due process actually even upset the Fox News crowd. But the “Maryland dad” imagery fell apart as soon as Republicans found that Obrego Garcia had a brush with the law. Immediately MAGA ran away with “See! We told you liberals want to let in all the criminals.”
I assume you meant 'hasn't done the trick'. You are right. Most Americans get outraged when they see terrible things happen to young pretty white girls.
Dems must tell their stories in mediums that reach people, this involves new wave messaging:
https://thenewdealsghost.substack.com/p/democracy-depends-on-tik-tok?r=6rdx2
See “Winter on Fire”. I fear this is the way we dig ourselves out. One of the best lines in the documentary was, “The voice of the people is the voice of God.”
https://youtu.be/RibAQHeDia8?si=jFejHwUFUk-jL4VQ
Absolutely. The Dem leadership needs to learn to tell a story. They keep banging their heads afainst the wall with ineffective tactics. Many of us do want to know the numbers, but a significant portion of the population votes by emotion. Governing requires one set of skills, but campaigning - messaging - requires something totally different.
Part of the reason these stories worked for republicans is because they repeated them over and over again on a loop on places like Fox News. Their motivation was not about the victim. It was a tool to scare people and get them to believe wild eyed criminal migrants were lurking on every corner in America. They had an anti immigration, racist agenda that we are now seeing the destructive culmination of. They also cleverly managed to make it look like democrats didn’t care about the victims, knowing full well democrats were more sympathetic to immigrants in general. I’m in favor of democrats telling stories but not that kind or for the reason the right tells them. With this hideous bill passing we will have many opportunities to share stories of those who have suffered first hand from this bill, but our motivation in my view is to help voters see the human cost of this cruel bill. We don’t need to put it on a loop but we can hold town halls with real stories of the consequences of these cuts. We can shine a spot light in ads and, in our own local papers and communities. Defeating these bastards is going to take all of us not just lawmakers showing the human cost of what the republicans have done. There’s a lot of work ahead and many stories we will be able to tell.
Very good idea to begin documenting the results (fallout?) from this bill. But knowing progressives, they will concentrate on inner city minorities, rainbow groups, and undocumented immigrants. Even those MAGA's that will be devastated by the loss of Medicaid and/or SNAP--and there will be millions--will be unmoved, or even encouraged, by those examples. Another concern is that many of the most fervent troglodytes, if severely impacted, will still love tRump and blame it on the "liberal commies." A sad example of a Rump supporter: the father of the baby who died from measles said that if he had it to do over, he would still not vaccinate his child.
Hallelujah!!
Unfortunately I don’t think a lot of Americans understand what’s in this bill yet. This isn’t the most informed country. The job ahead is to make them aware because as soon as people do understand the hideous nature of it they hate it. The health aspect is getting the most focus but the enormous amount going to immigration enforcement is disturbing too. Lots more concentration camps to come. There is no question that the republicans will do all they can to mess with the midterms but if we have them I think their political suicide pact to please their dear leader could give us house and maybe senate now too. Stopping Trump would go a long ways if we could so we have a lot of work ahead. We’re in a golden position.
Of all your many excellent comments, the second sentence is TOPS!!! As HL Mencken said: Nobody ever went broke underestimating the American public.
You may be right about what happens when people are directly affected by the bill, particularly Medicaid and SNAP. Aside from sillyhats and Bund-type campaign rallies, MAGA is ruled by self-interest. That's why the D's have to tone down their infatuation with Rainbows, unicorns, and migrants, and shine the light on how MAGA hurts everyday troglodytes.
I think that what happens in NJ this election will be an interesting indicator for next year (and yes, I still think there will be elections; SCOTUS does exhibit a spine when it is absolutely necessary. Normally (as repeated ad nauseum on NJ.com), voters switch every 8 years (unless a governor is really terrible, like Florio or Corzine). This year will be different. In addition to the Democrats surprisingly picking a solid, intelligent, experienced candidate (I will not insult her by saying "and a woman"; she's earned her praise without that crutch), the R candidate is stuck spouting MAGA. I voted for him last time; if I lived in NJ now, I would vote for Mikie, not as a protest (which is usually why I vote) but because she is the best gubernatorial candidate since Chrisite the First.
They can start with this story: https://substack.com/@jonhetherington/note/c-131053021?r=14n8hh
The human consequence stories are not hard to find...they are bountiful.
In answer to your questions, shouldn't D's fire all consultants and staff who have been involved with communications, PR and marketing. But wait, they all have experience with failure and should be allowed to re-apply showing how they will learn from the failures of the past 10 years. (Biden election being a unicorn). For that matter, shouldn't Jeffries and Schumer and leaders of allied groups offer their resignations given how many losses we have had since January/
Republicans often excel at simplifying complex issues into clear, concise narratives and slogans, even if lacking nuance. They consistently reinforce these messages across various media, leveraging a unified front and tapping into emotional appeals and perceived shared values, creating a strong, memorable brand
I believe the word you are looking for is propaganda. They are expert at it.
And...they wear really cool hats!
We could’ve been talking about Heather Heyer for the past 8 years to blunt their narratives, but most elected Democrats seem to have an aversion to crass lowbrow narratives. Sadly, if you don’t, then you lose.
I fully agree with the concept. The thing is, it needs national publicity. Perhaps a national TV commercial all over the country publicizing it for weeks. Come on DNC spend that cash!
I could facetiously say that the Democrats could put more emphasis on supporting the right of a very few 6' biological males to compete in women's sports, or find yet another individual immigrant who was deported, but that would serve no purpose.
Unfortunately, the American public, apparently steeped in religious tradition, seems to have absolutely no interest in hearing about poor people being denied healthcare, and even less interest if it involves undocumented children.
Julie... I'm a fan and... I'm begging you to take this one down. There is NOTHING the Democrats can do now.
Democrats have shown ZERO capacity to even connect with the American people in any meaningful way, much less message effectively since Reagan punched them in the face and they've been afraid of their own shadow ever since.
Now that we are as far down into the vortex of Fascism as we are... the idea that we have time to wait for them to learn to message seems crazy and even if they did... Republicans would just take a blowtorch to it! Brace for impact!
What should we do now...https://open.substack.com/pub/circularsustainability/p/brace-for-impact-folks?r=cldwv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Bishop Barber has been doing this.
https://open.substack.com/pub/ourmoralmoment/p/they-will-not-kill-us-without-a-fight?r=2xzu7b&utm_medium=ios
Unfortunately viewing immigrants being being abused by masked militia has done the trick so it might take pictures of “white babies and grandmas” dying and suffering. Little blonde pigtailed hair blue eyed children starving and malnutrition destroying their little bodies…
I think Democrats tried with the Obrego Garcia case. But they latched on too tightly to the story of Obrego Garcia being a “Maryland Dad” rather than a man sent to prison after being denied due process. The denial of due process actually even upset the Fox News crowd. But the “Maryland dad” imagery fell apart as soon as Republicans found that Obrego Garcia had a brush with the law. Immediately MAGA ran away with “See! We told you liberals want to let in all the criminals.”
I assume you meant 'hasn't done the trick'. You are right. Most Americans get outraged when they see terrible things happen to young pretty white girls.