The Democrats (my former party, I’m now an independent) lost in 2024 and will continue to lose in the future because of one major reason. They have lost the support of the American working class.
The historic Democratic icons FDR, and JFK would laugh at what passes for policy in their beloved party. Although they were upper class they understood that victory for their party depended on appealing to working class voters. Current party leaders distain the “deplorable” and “racist” members of the working class.
Working class Americans hate the following three policies foisted on them by Democrats
Working class people have had their wages depressed by illegal immigrants who will work for next to nothing just to be here. Their rents rise because we don’t have enough housing for our own citizens let alone millions of interlopers. The Democrats opened our borders to all with no vetting and now complain when the worst among those who entered illegally are sent home. The age of mass migration is over. Thank god and yes, Trump.
Democrats believe that a man can become a woman (he can’t) and should be allowed to play women’s sports and enter women’s private spaces including, unbelievably, those where they are naked and vulnerable, and that children, many of whom would grow up to be gay, should be mutilated in pursuit of the impossible. The vast majority of Americans and especially working class men want to protect women and children.
Democrats continue to discriminate on the basis of race and sex today because in the past there was discrimination on the basis of race and sex. That’s unconstitutional and the working class knows it.
Democrats believe that working class Americans are too stupid to understand what they are doing. They aren’t.
The question is, how do we convince party leadership we need these things and donors to fund them? You’d think failure and encroaching fascism would be enough, but evidently it is not.
@Will Robinson is 100% spot on in his analysis. I would also add, if you are in this space and have not been following the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2025 that just took place last week - you need to. It brings together the best of the best in advertising, marketing, creative and communications. In the political space -candidates are the product, the DNC is the brand and we are playing too small. Some of the top takeaways - invest in your talent, AI dominated much of the discussions, to get Gen Z’s attention it needs to be experiential and those that show up on platforms that embrace this win, hyper localize wins every time, and of course great content. Show me where the DNC understands this??? We have been talking about what needs to change - its time to invite those who understand this to the table so we can make this happen. This is within reach - there are too many smart innovative people in this community for this not to happen. 🥳
This is what communicators in the grassroots have been talking about. It’s why I publish Freedom Over Fascism. Lots of content creators work on this. It’s not news, but it lacks investment in more than just the top tier of creators. @COURIER is one of many who understand. We need to be talking about politics w/o talking about politics. That means values. It means lots of different content, contexts, and collaborations. And it needs people who understand how cognition, social media, organizing work. And it’s not about cyclical ads and top down approach. There’s lots of folks working on this but it’s nearly totally volunteer and only the highest tier of creators can make a living. So, yes to what you said, and most of all, yes to much much more investment in the ecosystem.
Who will teach and execute the political communications strategy for Democrats? DNC? We know what’s wrong with our communication strategy, it’s old, and egos across the Democrats spectrum get in the way, look at the 2024 Harris Campaign. They couldn’t make good media that made people feel. Why? Democrats need a Louis Powell 1971 memo that woke up the Republicans.
It’s wrong to say that Republicans didn’t win because of better policies. TDS forced the Dems into a lot of unpopular positions. Open borders is bad policy. Support for men playing women’s sports is bad policy. DEI is bad policy. Rushing the transition to renewable energy is bad policy. Pretending that a demented POTUS was actually lucid is bad policy. Keeping schools closed for over a year was bad policy. Running interference for a megalomaniac who lied about the origins of pandemic was bad policy. Should I go on?
Many of these positions were stances that Dems felt obligated to take, just to spite The Orange Man. The Dems have lost the ability to develop policies that most people like, because 1. They don’t know what most people like, because they don’t know most people; and 2. The Orange Man lives rent-free in the heads of many Democrats.
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Sometimes it is the policies though.
The Democrats (my former party, I’m now an independent) lost in 2024 and will continue to lose in the future because of one major reason. They have lost the support of the American working class.
The historic Democratic icons FDR, and JFK would laugh at what passes for policy in their beloved party. Although they were upper class they understood that victory for their party depended on appealing to working class voters. Current party leaders distain the “deplorable” and “racist” members of the working class.
Working class Americans hate the following three policies foisted on them by Democrats
Working class people have had their wages depressed by illegal immigrants who will work for next to nothing just to be here. Their rents rise because we don’t have enough housing for our own citizens let alone millions of interlopers. The Democrats opened our borders to all with no vetting and now complain when the worst among those who entered illegally are sent home. The age of mass migration is over. Thank god and yes, Trump.
Democrats believe that a man can become a woman (he can’t) and should be allowed to play women’s sports and enter women’s private spaces including, unbelievably, those where they are naked and vulnerable, and that children, many of whom would grow up to be gay, should be mutilated in pursuit of the impossible. The vast majority of Americans and especially working class men want to protect women and children.
Democrats continue to discriminate on the basis of race and sex today because in the past there was discrimination on the basis of race and sex. That’s unconstitutional and the working class knows it.
Democrats believe that working class Americans are too stupid to understand what they are doing. They aren’t.
I would reread Dave’s note everyday if I were a Dem…
This! "Republicans win the culture war by nationalizing fear. Democrats can win trust by localizing hope."
That stuck out the most for me too!!!!
The question is, how do we convince party leadership we need these things and donors to fund them? You’d think failure and encroaching fascism would be enough, but evidently it is not.
This sounds like decentralizing control and money from Washington DC. Want to talk with you about how polling needs to change.
Lets talk about polling!
I'll email you next week
@Will Robinson is 100% spot on in his analysis. I would also add, if you are in this space and have not been following the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2025 that just took place last week - you need to. It brings together the best of the best in advertising, marketing, creative and communications. In the political space -candidates are the product, the DNC is the brand and we are playing too small. Some of the top takeaways - invest in your talent, AI dominated much of the discussions, to get Gen Z’s attention it needs to be experiential and those that show up on platforms that embrace this win, hyper localize wins every time, and of course great content. Show me where the DNC understands this??? We have been talking about what needs to change - its time to invite those who understand this to the table so we can make this happen. This is within reach - there are too many smart innovative people in this community for this not to happen. 🥳
+1 Lets figure it out
This is what communicators in the grassroots have been talking about. It’s why I publish Freedom Over Fascism. Lots of content creators work on this. It’s not news, but it lacks investment in more than just the top tier of creators. @COURIER is one of many who understand. We need to be talking about politics w/o talking about politics. That means values. It means lots of different content, contexts, and collaborations. And it needs people who understand how cognition, social media, organizing work. And it’s not about cyclical ads and top down approach. There’s lots of folks working on this but it’s nearly totally volunteer and only the highest tier of creators can make a living. So, yes to what you said, and most of all, yes to much much more investment in the ecosystem.
Who will teach and execute the political communications strategy for Democrats? DNC? We know what’s wrong with our communication strategy, it’s old, and egos across the Democrats spectrum get in the way, look at the 2024 Harris Campaign. They couldn’t make good media that made people feel. Why? Democrats need a Louis Powell 1971 memo that woke up the Republicans.
It’s wrong to say that Republicans didn’t win because of better policies. TDS forced the Dems into a lot of unpopular positions. Open borders is bad policy. Support for men playing women’s sports is bad policy. DEI is bad policy. Rushing the transition to renewable energy is bad policy. Pretending that a demented POTUS was actually lucid is bad policy. Keeping schools closed for over a year was bad policy. Running interference for a megalomaniac who lied about the origins of pandemic was bad policy. Should I go on?
Many of these positions were stances that Dems felt obligated to take, just to spite The Orange Man. The Dems have lost the ability to develop policies that most people like, because 1. They don’t know what most people like, because they don’t know most people; and 2. The Orange Man lives rent-free in the heads of many Democrats.
You are welcome.
Yes please please please keep thinking it’s how you communicate the message and not the message itself.
No, you lost on policy. Until you understand this, you will never deserve to lead again.
The policies that cost you everything: 1) Men competing against women in women's sports. 2) Medical gender transition for children. 3) immigration.
The public understood your policy positions and rejected them. You're still focused on "message" because you refuse to accept your policy failures.