I have watched Democrats snatch defeat from the clutches of victory so many times, I almost expect it. This political party seems to have two problems, messaging and completing the deal, you know, governing when you win and have the majority. By all accounts from the last few years, this parties sucks at it!
Let’s start with the messaging issue. The thing that Donald Trump excels at is creating a narrative and ensuring that every American hears it. He did it in 2016 by talking about draining the swamp. Now it’s about Democrats stealing elections, he’s shown that he doesn’t need evidence, he has mastered the art of the internet, which is to just keep saying it enough, true, or not it becomes a fact in no time. Trump just speaks plainly to as wide a group of Americans as possible at the same time, even when it’s just nihilism, he just rambles on.
Democrats on the other hand claim to represent “the people” but they have a bad habit of putting Americans in categories, people of color, Hispanics, sexual minorities, blue-collar whites, suburban women and so on. Fighting for the common folk is a far harder sell when your marketing is tailored to so many different ones. Focusing on what divides people also reinforces their differences.
Poor messaging also warps the content. The Biden administration has passed five significant pieces of legislation since they were sworn in in 2017. The CHIPS Act, Infrastructure Bill and a gun safety bill all passed with bi-partisan support. The Inflation Reduction Act also was negotiated through Congress. All this is good news, but the Democrats messaging is always a tangled mess of competing interest. The last two Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden both had to start their administrations with economic rescue plans due to Republican policies, but Democrats are as quiet as a church mouse on this, it is baffling!
Some of your terminology, mottos and policies are mind numbing. Whoever though up the slogan “Defund the Police” should be sent to North Philly on a Saturday night and see how that plan would work out. I am not saying the police don’t have their issues, but the majority of police officers do fine outstanding work for their communities. They have a very difficult job to do daily which requires split-second decision making in harrowing situations. Let’s give them a little slack and let them do their job and go home safe to their families.
“Black Lives Matter”, now I understand that you not saying only Black Lives Matter but unfortunately that is what people hear. I don’t want any group of people to be mistreated by law enforcement or by anyone for that matter. I see everyone as a human, not a migrant, an African American or Hispanic, just as a person.
Democrats would be wise to stop seeing people in their demographic world and just see them as people. I believe their policies would be embraced more if they opened their arms to everyone. Democrats have become lazy and laziness breeds incompetence. Dismissing whole chunks of society as reprehensible is as far as it gets from being a better American. Democrats probably don’t want to hear this but they could learn a thing or two for dealing with voters from watching how Donald Trump plays the game.