The economic/media/political realities of the 2012 election are sobering. The forces of retrenchment have more money, more free media, and they are less constrained by moral principles like truthfulness and civility. They can put out more words and more rancorous words. But we should not forget, that voters cannot be paid for their votes------at least not yet. So even with piles of money to burn, the GOP still has to convince voters to vote for their candidates. If Democrats can use their money more effectively, it can neutralize the GOP advantages.
Please continue below the fold for ways that we can act as the great equalizers.
Limited Democratic media time needs to be used to deliver memorable messages. What makes rhetoric memorable? How about brevity, surprise, humor, word-play, rhyming and song? (Shock, expletives, rancor are other ways to make rhetoric more memorable-----but let's leave those to the opposition.) In political terms, one well turned phrase is worth much more than hours of less memorable rhetoric. That's where citizen-progressives like us can make a difference. As a crowd source we can provide lots of different options of rhetoric the party and progressive independent groups could adopt when they are looking for the most effective phrases to deliver their messages. Together I think we can out-wit the cleverest of paid political consultants.
At least two DK groups, Political Language and Messaging, and Frameshop are suited for collecting our spin and slogans. (Posting to either group is fine. And commenting on previous posts is an option if you don't join either group.) Aggregating our ideas will be a key to anyone being able to find and use the material we create. So members of these groups will bring these ideas together. In Frameshop, messaging ideas that are submitted will be rated by the DK community acting like a focus group.
For the next few days I'll be posting a series of diaries with short messaging ideas. Each diary will include fresh ways to present one cluster of political issues. I hope you'll take a look and comment.
DK is already a progressive think tank. Let's take some of that formidable brain power and focus on forging election year rhetoric with creativity and flair. We can still make a difference this election cycle.