Democrats have a messaging problem, and relying on the old platitudes will not work. What is missing from the message is what exactly did Democrats proposed to do that was different than their past? Exactly what were they going to do about it? Here it is, patterned after Zoran Mamdani's simple words of three promises under the umbrella of one word, affordability: here are three things I propose to get done and take leadership on if elected. It was specific, and it was directly stated: affordability meant those three things almost in the same breath. (Mamdani, a candidate for mayor of New York).
The other day, I listened to the Democratic Party chair attempt to say the party was redirecting its messaging to address people's unhappiness with the unaffordability of basic family needs, such as healthcare, housing, groceries, child care, and then just left it at that. No specifics. I suppose it is progress that the party can ID the problem, but that is just platitudes if it is left at the complaint stage with the implication that Dems are not Trump. In recognition of the success of Zohran Mamdani acknowledged that it could not be the same as the old messages. Now wait a moment: Democrats have always been champions of all of that, MAGA had stolen the message from them, and now they were failing to produce and fulfill their promises. The question voters will be asking is so "what are you going to do about it?" Harping on the failure of theTrump regime is only an opening salvo; the rest needs to be what "actions" are you going to take that is different than what Biden did that caused them to vote for Trump in the first place.
Democrats have an opportunity, but if they get tied up in knots over social issues and wonky statistics and policy minutiae and verbiage platitudes, they will muff it. VP Harris in 2024 treated kitchen table issues as an aside acknowledgment. But that other issue. women's rights, for example, occupied the bulk of her set stump speech and failed to be specific about what she would do differently than what Biden had done, which many felt did not work for them.. For those who worried about grocery and gas at the pump prices, unaffordable housing, and high costs of child care, Harris had no specifics. But Mamdani hit the nail on the head. He pushed these issues to priority status and gave a plan of how he would make it better, with three specific issues related to what they had in common: affordability, and then provided his actions to fix it. It was specific, and it was directly stated: affordability meant those three things almost in the same breath and provided a specific solution that made sense and cents to those who saw what was important to their lives. It was specific, and it was directly stated: affordability meant those three things almost in the same breath; they were so directly and closely related..
Nationwide Democrats could choose one or two ACTION topics under which state and local candidates could fit. For example: affordability and fair treatment for all. This would be instead of just harping on Trump's failures to reduce the cost of living or that he's a dictator.
Here is what I mean if I were coaching a candidate to say.
A point under the topic of affordability: I will restore the health care cuts to Medicaid and ACA and make Medicare sounder, but reduce the costs to consumers by competitive bidding of prescription drugs and charges for participating in these popular programs.
.. I will support early childhood education and give financial support to those providing childcare to make it affordable.
I will support making groceries more affordable by supporting market competition and opposing monopolies, stopping tariffs on imported food, and providing enduring work permits for migrant farm workers (the old bracero method?).
I will support the building of more affordable housing and housing for the homeless. including tax breaks and some funding, etc.
To the question of how we should pay for all of this? Reverse the outrageous tax breaks to the very rich. I would reverse Trump's tariffs to what they were before and use tariffs in the future to support national security interests, not as a government fundraising project, causing costs that will just be passed on to customers..
Under fairness: I will improve our free and fair elections: I will end political and racial gerrymandering, end untraceable campaign money, and work to keep the federal government from controlling state-run elections. (Note: the lack of reference to the damage done by MAGA in cultural and racial issues; those victimized by such, we hear plenty of that from other organizations, but in a federal election campaign, fairness is a value all can subscribe to.)
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