In 1984 I quit my job for Kerry / Edwards and worked at the DNC. After we lost I looked at comms and realized that dems never develop year round comms etc. It is only during campaign season that they care. I waited to get a thank you holiday card from the DNC etc. It never came. Ever. I don't think we will ever learn how to build 365 political party infrastructure because it is too difficult. It is much more fun to raise billions 4 months before an election and then spend it on endless TV ads that no one watches or cares about. But, hey, our small group of media consultants make bank!
Someone of us have put stopping authoritarian rule ahead of bank. We need to organize our way out of this mess - we can not advertise our way out of this mess
No, you won’t because you clowns think it’s your messaging when in fact it is your beliefs. They are literally hated by the majority of Americans. Keep it up! It’s working…for us. Thanks
They know what they’re doing; they make good money by failing. If we want to move past this good cop, bad cop bullshit, then we’re going to have to do it ourselves.
I love this frame so much. There's a lot of truth here, and I think this whole premise really highlights the problem with the comms strategy (if we can call it that) on the left: what I see as a deep-seated disdain for pop culture and "everyday people." We don't want to meet people where they are, because that's "low-brow" and we're "above" that. But that perfect op-ed in the NYT or exposé on the PBS News Hour isn't going to change the trajectory of this country. Using $100 words when $5 words could convey the same idea isn't going to help us. You're 💯 right that we need to "use your porch voice, not [our] podium voice" (and our porch words, too.)
I just read this post. Thank you Will. If Democrats really want to be the party that sounds like America talking to itself instead of talking at us, they need to invest in buying a local bar and sit and really listen to people to start. But, their consultants are above that.
Spot on per usual. I hate the fact that teen magazines are still teaching young women how to get back with their exes instead of how to stand on their own two feet.
The actual mags are very direct about asking whether getting back is safe, sane, or worth it. As a former teenage boy - I know it rarely was for the young woman who usually had more maturity - even years later. We shouldn’t really let men date until they are past 50….?
This is all great, but Democrats aren’t going to do it. The party is full of multimillionaire corporatists that LIKE the status quo. They’d rather capitulate to fascism than risk austerity for the rich.
If we want this, we’re going to have to build our own party. 90 million people don’t vote. You mobilize THEM and you become the dominant party.
This sounds like my Rep’s game plan. Gabe Vasquez grabbed a seat in New Mexico from a MAGA Republican and increased his win margin in his second election. He’s been artful in connecting with voters using many of the approaches the teen mags tout.
I still don’t see much in the way of an acknowledgment from the Democratic Party about how undemocratic an outfit the 2024 campaign revealed it to be. The rest of the nation was looking to the party to put up a winning candidate and run a winning campaign. Instead, the people around Biden put their own interests ahead of the country’s. Then, only one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, fund-raising juggernaut George Clooney, had sufficient standing to “speak truth to power,” compelling Biden to step aside. The party could have redeemed itself at that point by showing trust in the delegates to select a nominee. But that was deemed “too risky” and instead Kamala became the nominee, essentially by acclamation, without any competition. Then Kamala failed to move to the center on any issue and burned through a billion dollars on a celebrity-studded campaign. Now the Dems are flooding American mailboxes with more appeals for money. They let down the nation and still seem unconscious of how deep the anti-party sentiment (against both parties) is. They still believe that because Trump is so abominable that they will win next time. Their ideology is discredited and stale. I am very pessimistic about what lies ahead.
I just discovered your substack by the way and thought this post was insightful and (thank you) funny. I truly am done with Dems though. Even your wit is futile!
LOL…I just love it. You Libs have no clue why you lost and why you will continue to lose. Here, let me help (because I know you won’t take my advice…that’s the fun part):
For the record, you lost because of the lived experience of all Americans the last four years. Unprecedented crime, corruption, inflation, government spending, regulatory overreach, lawfare (including the specter of false allegations and indictments of a former president and then-presidential candidate), a stolen election and so much more. In short, it was a long-running coup that started under Obama, continued through the first Trump presidency, and hit its peak under Biden.
Please remain in that lovely state of denial because the vast majority of Americans see you now for who you are, and tweaked messaging and local organizing are not going to save you. You are all “true believers” in a false prophet: Liberalism/Socialism/Marxism (They’re all the same.)
“Glow up” is now my favorite phrase! :)
In 1984 I quit my job for Kerry / Edwards and worked at the DNC. After we lost I looked at comms and realized that dems never develop year round comms etc. It is only during campaign season that they care. I waited to get a thank you holiday card from the DNC etc. It never came. Ever. I don't think we will ever learn how to build 365 political party infrastructure because it is too difficult. It is much more fun to raise billions 4 months before an election and then spend it on endless TV ads that no one watches or cares about. But, hey, our small group of media consultants make bank!
Someone of us have put stopping authoritarian rule ahead of bank. We need to organize our way out of this mess - we can not advertise our way out of this mess
No, you won’t because you clowns think it’s your messaging when in fact it is your beliefs. They are literally hated by the majority of Americans. Keep it up! It’s working…for us. Thanks
I agree the DNC media consultants are what is hurting the progressive blue party.
They know what they’re doing; they make good money by failing. If we want to move past this good cop, bad cop bullshit, then we’re going to have to do it ourselves.
2004!
I love this frame so much. There's a lot of truth here, and I think this whole premise really highlights the problem with the comms strategy (if we can call it that) on the left: what I see as a deep-seated disdain for pop culture and "everyday people." We don't want to meet people where they are, because that's "low-brow" and we're "above" that. But that perfect op-ed in the NYT or exposé on the PBS News Hour isn't going to change the trajectory of this country. Using $100 words when $5 words could convey the same idea isn't going to help us. You're 💯 right that we need to "use your porch voice, not [our] podium voice" (and our porch words, too.)
I like Porch voice too - I don’t want consultants to ruin it: “Use your “porch voice” here Senator! :(
Right. Change your words, not your beliefs and policies. LMAO
This is brillant and the most straightforward analysis to help Dems branding
I just read this post. Thank you Will. If Democrats really want to be the party that sounds like America talking to itself instead of talking at us, they need to invest in buying a local bar and sit and really listen to people to start. But, their consultants are above that.
Spot on per usual. I hate the fact that teen magazines are still teaching young women how to get back with their exes instead of how to stand on their own two feet.
The actual mags are very direct about asking whether getting back is safe, sane, or worth it. As a former teenage boy - I know it rarely was for the young woman who usually had more maturity - even years later. We shouldn’t really let men date until they are past 50….?
This is all great, but Democrats aren’t going to do it. The party is full of multimillionaire corporatists that LIKE the status quo. They’d rather capitulate to fascism than risk austerity for the rich.
If we want this, we’re going to have to build our own party. 90 million people don’t vote. You mobilize THEM and you become the dominant party.
I’m going to stay and fight it out within the party - give most of the rank and file some credit that we will fight
Yeah, you’re going to be fighting your own party at the same time as the fascists. They have sabotaged all efforts at reform for decades.
We simply do not have the time to reform the entire party.
This sounds like my Rep’s game plan. Gabe Vasquez grabbed a seat in New Mexico from a MAGA Republican and increased his win margin in his second election. He’s been artful in connecting with voters using many of the approaches the teen mags tout.
I still don’t see much in the way of an acknowledgment from the Democratic Party about how undemocratic an outfit the 2024 campaign revealed it to be. The rest of the nation was looking to the party to put up a winning candidate and run a winning campaign. Instead, the people around Biden put their own interests ahead of the country’s. Then, only one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, fund-raising juggernaut George Clooney, had sufficient standing to “speak truth to power,” compelling Biden to step aside. The party could have redeemed itself at that point by showing trust in the delegates to select a nominee. But that was deemed “too risky” and instead Kamala became the nominee, essentially by acclamation, without any competition. Then Kamala failed to move to the center on any issue and burned through a billion dollars on a celebrity-studded campaign. Now the Dems are flooding American mailboxes with more appeals for money. They let down the nation and still seem unconscious of how deep the anti-party sentiment (against both parties) is. They still believe that because Trump is so abominable that they will win next time. Their ideology is discredited and stale. I am very pessimistic about what lies ahead.
I just discovered your substack by the way and thought this post was insightful and (thank you) funny. I truly am done with Dems though. Even your wit is futile!
LOL…I just love it. You Libs have no clue why you lost and why you will continue to lose. Here, let me help (because I know you won’t take my advice…that’s the fun part):
For the record, you lost because of the lived experience of all Americans the last four years. Unprecedented crime, corruption, inflation, government spending, regulatory overreach, lawfare (including the specter of false allegations and indictments of a former president and then-presidential candidate), a stolen election and so much more. In short, it was a long-running coup that started under Obama, continued through the first Trump presidency, and hit its peak under Biden.
Please remain in that lovely state of denial because the vast majority of Americans see you now for who you are, and tweaked messaging and local organizing are not going to save you. You are all “true believers” in a false prophet: Liberalism/Socialism/Marxism (They’re all the same.)
You’re welcome.