I am a professional campaign manager. I have managed multiple Democratic Campaigns, all victories.
In the course of managing my most recent campaign, I had to create a message. As I went through this basic step of any campaign, I realized the Democratic Party itself had not created a Message for the 2010 election cycle. Thats a pretty serious problem. So I crafted one for us to use.
More below the fold:
As many of you already know. In any campaign it is vital that you define your message at the very beginning. 30 years ago, candidates often just responded to whatever was in the news cycle and had no consistency. This made politicians seem to be spineless flip-flopper's with no convictions. The stereotype persists today. But in more recent years, the smart campaigns realized that a campaign must decide what they want to talk about before hand, and stick to that as best they can. This is called "Message Discipline."
Again, many of you already knew that.
A campaign cannot win, unless everyone on the campaign stays on message. Period. The reason for this is that most voters aren't paying close attention to politics, they are too busy with their work, families etc... So a campaign must repeat their one Message 10,000 times for the voters to hear it. If the campaign tries to make its Message too complicated, nothing gets through.
That means everyone from the writers making the commercials to the volunteer handing out fliers on the street must exercise Message Discipline . A good campaign manager knows that he or she must write a Message Statement before the campaign begins and distribute it to everyone working on the campaign, including all the volunteers, so that the campaign will have Message Discipline.
A Message is a personal thing, so it is important to get input from the candidate and the constituents as you craft it.
David Plouffe did all of this very well when he was Obama's campaign manager in 2007 and 2008. However Plouffe left team Obama when Obama was sworn in. Plouffe only recently returned, and he does not have the same kind of authority now that he had during the campaign.
...So far so good. I know this is elementary to some people here, but its important we remind ourselves of it, for what I am about to say next.
While I was crafting my own campaigns message, I realized that, amazing as it seemed, the Democratic Party does not have a unified message going into 2010. David Plouffe was not part of the Obama team during the first year, which might partially explain this problem, but its still a bizarre oversight. Any campaign manager can tell you its impossible to win without a unified Message. The Republicans started having a unified message for midterm elections back in 1994 (Contract with America), we had one in 2008 (Hope and Change) we should have one in 2010, but we don't.
Since no one in the Democratic party created a Message, I made one for us to use. What follows is a modification of my own campaigns message document. It is used primarily to frame how Democrats should talk about Democrats and How Democrats should talk about Republicans. It also is used to predict what Republicans will say about themselves, and how Democrats should respond.
The box at the top is called a Message Box. The use of the Message Box format was popularized by Paul Wellstone, among others.
I am suggesting that every activist on Daily Kos, try to fit what they say into these core ideas. We can only persuade the public if we do not go off message. We need to all be saying the same thing. This is the first time I have introduced this message document, so obviously we will not all agree, feel free to give feedback and modifications. We may decide on an entirely different Message, this exact Message Statement is not what is important in the long run. What is important is that the Progressive Activists of America all agree on a single message and stick with it. The DNC should have taken the lead on this, but we can't wait for them.
As one last note: Republican activists do not need to have this conversation because they have Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck etc... to tell their activists what to think and say. Many Republican activists proudly call themselves "ditto-heads" and repeat, word-for-word, everything Limbaugh tells them. That is why Republicans always appear so much more united. We MUST unite behind a common message or we can never defeat them.
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SUGGESTED MESSAGE DOCUMENT:
Message Box
DEMOCRATS on DEMOCRATS:
Democrats strengthen America by investing in public services.
DEMOCRATS ON REPUBLICANS:
The Republicans want to steal your public services. That weakens America.
REPUBLICANS ON REPUBLICANS:
Republicans believe in small government. Republicans want to cut taxes.
REPUBLICANS ON DEMOCRATS:
Democrats want socialism. Democrats want to raise your taxes. Democrats will lose your jobs.
Notice the that the message box not only defines Democrats in a positive way,it predicts what Republicans will say, and counters their message, at the same time.
Section 1:Talking Points. This is what we should actually say to people.
How to Talk About What Government Does:
• “I buy services from the government. I pay taxes because I want schools, highways and police and fire protection. I paid for those things and I own them, together with the other taxpayers. Now that I’ve been paying for years, the Republicans are saying they want to take my stuff away? I don’t think so.”
• "People pay taxes and are supposed to get services in exchange, that is the social contract."
• "The corrupt rich are using government to steal people’s taxes and giving nothing back, they are violating the social contract."
• "Democrats will fight to make sure people get good services like schools, highways, and financial aid, in exchange for their taxes. We already paid for this stuff. When people pay taxes and their services are taken away, that is stealing."
• IMPORTANT NOTE: Every time a Republican says something about "tax cuts," "socialism," or "government." What they are really talking about is stealing your services, even if they don't know it. Whenever an opponent starts talking about any of those things, refer to this section, and shift re-frame the debate into these terms. This should cover the majority of political debate, aside from foreign policy.
How to Talk About Democrats
• “Our founding fathers had a vision when this great country began: The only purpose of government is to serve the people, that is why people allow government to exist."
• "That vision has become corrupt over the years, the rich and powerful are trying to steal government from its rightful owners."
• "Democrats are trying to stand up to the dirty money in politics, but the bosses who control the Republicans are powerful and we need your help to fight them."
• "Democrats strengthen America by investing in public services. Democrats believe that America is strong because we work together as a team."
• Democrats know that the government is supposed to be owned by the people.
How to Talk About Republicans
• “Republicans try to finance tax cuts for the rich by cutting public services. They are stealing from everyone in America.”
• Republicans cut taxes for the wealthy, by taking away services that all Americans use. We already paid for those services (i.e. highways, schools, Pell grants etc...), republicans have no right to take away what we already paid for.
• Republicans are controlled by the super-rich, who use their money to buy influence. That is why no one trusts the government to be fair
• Republicans believe individuals should not get any services from the government, that’s why they are trying to take away your public schools, your financial aid, and your highway repairs (example: Republican Jim Bunning filibustered highway finding)
• The Republicans weaken America when they weaken our services. Our economy can’t function without highways to move goods and public education to train workers for good jobs
• Republicans don’t want the government to do anything. One by one, they are trying to eliminate the services our government provides, and they are going to keep doing it unless we stop them
Section 2. PLATFORM
SPECIFIC ISSUES and POLICIES WE WILL ADVOCATE
- Protect and Strengthen Services.
- Get Dirty Money out of Politics.
- Make Government fair again.
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- Protect and Strengthen services
a. Public Education,
i. Working families use public education so their kids can get a good job and have a good life.
ii. Republicans favor private education and vouchers, which gives better education to rich children than everyone else.
iii. Democrats want to strengthen Public Education, because we know that we need a well educated population to compete with China.
b. Public Transportation, and Highways
i. People use public transportation and highways so they can get to work and have good jobs. Small businesses use highways to transport their products
ii. Republicans refuse to invest in public transportation, which causes congestion on the highways, and make it difficult for people to get to work in the morning and get home to their families at night.
iii. Democrats want to strengthen public transportation and highways. Those things are part of a strong economy. Democrats want more buses and rail, so people can get to work without crowding the highways, and they want better highways, so small business can transport their products.
c. Aid to students. Democrats favor financial aid to students such as Pell Grants, so they can afford to go to college and get good careers
i. Aid to students is an investment in America's economy. If we don’t help kids go to college the US economy won’t be able to compete with China
ii. Republicans want weaken aid to students, which will hurt our economy, and cost us jobs.
iii. Democrats want to strengthen aid to students, because they understand we need a college educated work force to compete with China and India.
- Get the Dirty money out of politics. Our Democracy Should Not be For Sale
a. Undo the Republican Supreme Court Ruling
i. Last month, the 5 Justices who make up the Republican Supreme Court decided to let unlimited dirty into our elections.
- They overturned court precedent and 100 years of law which limited money in campaigns.
- People already don’t trust their government, because they know there is so much corrupt dirty money. This will make the problem much worse.
ii. The Democrats in the House and Senate should pass a constitutional amendment overturning the ruling, or at least pass a law limiting the effects of money. There are several good possibilities to read the minutia of exactly how to get the dirty money out of politics, refer to the section at the end. (warning this section will bore most average voters):
- Make Government Fair Again.
a. “Government should be fair, it should treat everyone equally. Right now I don’t think it is, and I don’t think you do either. The super rich use their money to buy influence, so they are given special treatment. That is why no one trusts the government. I believe we need to stand up against all the dirty money in politics.”
b. This section needs to be expanded further.
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NOTES ON LANGUAGE:
When we talk about ourselves use words like “Strengthen” and “Protect.” “Fight for.” “Stand up against.”
When we talk about Republicans use words like “steal” and “weaken.”
When we talk about government, refer to the fact that people are supposed to "own the government."
• This reframes the issue of government in a way people are not used to thinking about. Ownership. We reframe government as our prooperty, something we want to protect from greedy people who want to steal it. And when we reframe issues, it makes people open to changing their minds about their political beliefs.
• The people are supposed to own the government, but lately powerful corporations and the rich seem to think they own it, and that's not what our founding fathers wanted.
When we talk about the Supreme Court call it “the Republican Supreme Court.”
• When anyone asks us why, explain that everything major the Supreme court does nowadays is by the 5 Republicans overturning the 4 Democrats.
• In the old days the Supreme Court tried to find justice and they often worked for consensus. The justices made most major decisions voting all 9 together.
• But since Bush, the 5 Republicans on the Supreme Court do not try to find justice. They only try to help the Republicans and the people who fund Republicans..
• Hence, the 5 Justices on the Supreme court always make 5 to 4 rulings and have become “the Republican Supreme Court.”
• Make a distinction if you wish to refer to one of the 4 other justices who are not part of the Republican Supreme Court.
EXTRA NOTE: Here is a Response to Use if ever anyone says Corporations are people, which was the rationale the Republican Supreme Court used to overturn campaign finance.
• "Corporations are not people. The Republicans have been making this argument for years and everyone knows its bullshit."
- Corporations pay taxes at less than half the rate of people.
- People have the right to vote, Corporations do not.
- People can be charged with crimes in criminal court where as corporations can only be charged in civil court, where the penalties are much less severe.
• "As far as US law is concerned, corporations and people are clearly 2 separate legal entities. In fact, if corporations are people, then as a person, I want to be a corporation, they pay much less taxes and have much fewer restrictions."
• The Republican Supreme Court only pretends that they think corporations are people, so they can let corporations give money to Republicans.
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APPENDIX: POLICY IN MORE DETAIL
The above was a message document. Its purpose was primarily to help a campaign PERSUADE people to register and vote. Most of those people are not very involved in politics and will not care about the minutia of policy. So some parts have been left out to avoid boring the normal people. However those parts are important, so anyone who is curious can read about them here.
Obviously, there will be more disagreement on these these specific policy points points. These details are not the main point of my blog, and I hesitated to even I include them. But I thought it was important because having specific policies on hand, so we can answer any questions is an important part of messaging.
I did not create these ideas, all I did was rewrite them in a way that makes them easier for someone who knows nothing about politics to understand and find interesting.
How to Get Dirty Money Out of Politics . It is actually easy, its just no one has done it.
a. First give free time on public TV, to any candidate who wants to run for office. That way they can make their case directly to the voters, without needing to raise money for commercials etc...
b. Then make it illegal for any one to make any advertisement urging people to vote one way or another. Anyone who makes a campaign commercial for TV, radio or the internet, goes to jail
c. Problem solved. That gets a large majority of money out of politics. Something similar to this system is already in use in many countries such as Britain Canada and japan, they’ve done it for years. (need source)
IMPORTANT NOTE: MOST ACTIVIST CALL THIS "PUBLIC FINANCING."
MOST NORMAL PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW WHAT ACTIVIST ARE TALKING ABOUT WHEN THEY SAY THAT.
Other Good Ways to Get Dirty Money Out of Politics
- Require all Corporations and Companies to report whenever they give any money to a political campaign, PAC or when they directly finance any action to influence an election.
o Right now campaigns are required to disclose what they receive, instead we should flip that and make everyone disclose what they give.
o This should apply to any political contribution if it is over, say, $1000.
o This will allow small donors to give easily and still prevent corporations from hiding behind PAC’s like “the friends of Progress.” (just a made up example name)
- Ban all campaigns from accepting money from any entity with any foreign investment. This can be politically popular because it protects US sovereignty, but it also will prevent most powerful corporations, such as Wal-Mart, from investing because most corporations have huge investment overseas.
- Have a spending ceilings for congressional races. California already has a spending ceiling on how much State candidates can spend in an election. Federal races should adopt a similar idea.
Democrats Should also institute term limits for the Supreme Court
• Supreme Court should serve 12 year terms, instead of lifelong. There would be more turn over and more chance to root out corruption.
• We can stagger the Supreme court terms, so that each president appoints 3 justices every term. That would keep the justices somewhat removed from the political process, which was the reason they are appointed instead of elected, but make them less powerful and prevent them from becoming corrupt the way the Republican Supreme Court has.