Republicans are better at messaging than we are. This needs to change.
They have clear and concise messages, and they repeat those messages over and over. Sheer repetition works. Republicans have repeated “job creating tax cuts” so often that many people believe tax cuts lead to job creation, even though it is not true. They have repeated “tax and spend” so often that many people believe essential safety net programs take money out of their pockets and waste it on programs that don’t do any good, even though that is not true, either.
We need clear and concise messages, and we need to repeat them over and over again. A Better Deal might look good on a bumper sticker, but what does it mean? The Better Deal contains 14 admirable progressive proposals, but it is hard to find a clear and concise central message in it.
Canvass Notebook is dedicated to helping craft progressive messages and to provide canvass volunteers with facts that support those messages
Progressive Messages
- Democratic policies build a stronger economy.
- Democrats build and repair the safety net while Republicans work hard to shred it.
- Democrats work to advance the common good.
- Republican programs benefit the top 0.1% and damage the rest of us.
- Democrats are better at disaster relief.
- Right wing extremists block immigration reform while cynical Republican flacks exploit immigration problems.
- Democrats work to protect the environment while Republicans protect special interests.
The Republican Message
For more than a generation, the core Republican message has been “Tax cuts create jobs and grow the economy.”
Donald Trump darkened the tone of that message to sow resentment among blue collar workers. He tells them they are being cheated. He tells them they are paying taxes to fund programs that support people who are not like them. They hear him. They believe him.
Donald Trump has convinced working class whites to resent minority groups because minority groups are benefiting at the expense of the white working class. We need to communicate the truth. The truth is that the government safety net supports us all, regardless of our color. Ironically, the truth is that government safety programs support more white people than all other racial and ethnic groups combined.
If blue collar workers are going to resent someone, they should resent the Koch brothers and the Freedom Caucus who have brought us programs that benefit the wealthiest among us at the expense of the rest of us.
