Now that the midterms are over it’s time for the wounds to be licked and the Democratic Party to look at the reform part of things before beginning to campaign for the 2012 presidential election. I believe Daily KOS has a significant role to play in that reform.
From the FAQ’s posted on this blog this is what Daily KOS is about:
“This is a Democratic blog, a partisan blog. One that recognizes that Democrats run from left to right on the ideological spectrum, and yet we're all still in this fight together...... It's a Democratic blog with one goal in mind: electoral victory. And since we haven't gotten any of that from the current crew, we're one more thing: a reform blog. The battle for the party is not an ideological battle. It's one between establishment and anti-establishment factions. And as I've said a million times, the status quo is untenable.”
So the game is not just about putting more D’s in the House, Senate and White House. It’s also about reforming the Democratic Party. It’s about moving this country in the right direction. With that in mind I thought I would offer the following.
In President Obama’s news conference today he said our problems can’t be explained in bumper stickers. That statement sent chills up my spine.
Why did the Republican Party succeed? Simply put the American people understood their message. Their message was largely stated in bumper stickers (i.e. smaller government, no new taxes, less regulation, repeal Obamacare).
Now more than ever the Democratic Party needs to articulate a consistent message until the 2012 election. That message must adhere to the bumper sticker style messaging used so effectively by our Republican friends. Remember the KISS theory of “Keep it Short and Simple”.
The American people simply don’t have the time, desire or interest to dive into the details of all the complex issues we face. They want to listen to the evening news and hear a solution in a 30 second sound bite. It’s comforting for them to hear the same sound bite repeated over and over again. Makes them feel politicians know what their talking about if all are saying the same thing.
As Democrats we also have to come to grips with the fact that the Republicans are not going to change their strategy as long at it is working for them. They are not interested in bipartisanship. Just listen to them. They are telling us blatantly that their idea of compromise is “Do it our way or take the highway”. Did you hear the Republican leadership today? They made it crystal clear.
Democratic candidates running for office need to adhere to consistent talking points/policy positions that are stated repeatedly. They need to be preferably 3 words or less but at most 4 words.
Let me offer a few to choose from:
End both wars now
Prosecute War Crimes now
Preserve Social Security
Never Privatize Social Security
Tax job outsourcing
Pay as you go
Medicare for all now.
Healthcare repeal? Hell no.
Healthcare expansion? Hell yes.
Reverse Citizens United
Campaign Finance Reform now
Middle Class tax cuts
End the filibuster
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Green jobs now
Infrastructure funding now
Climate Legislation now
No Wall Street bailouts
Fight Republican Plutocracy
Fight Right-Wing Media Bias
Make it in America
Our midterm message was muddled and it hurt us. Hopefully our Democratic leaders will adopt the “talking points” strategy as we begin our countdown to the 2012 election. We should push hard for adoption of this strategy.