Democrats, generally speaking, suck when it comes to messaging. Yes, Biden-Harris won with “Build Back Better” but, really, do you think this slogan drove people to the polls and won the election?
Here’s my suggestion, and it’s not just a slogan: Patriotic Free Enterprise means that the nation should encourage and reward the rebirth of business, especially small business, in America. But Patriotism means that business should pay workers a living wage, and business, especially major corporations, should pay their fair share of taxes.
Make a note of what happened in Florida please. While sending the majority of their votes to Trump, Floridians also passed a $15 per hour minimum wage. In an economy based largely on tourism, this is a big (dare I say the F word) deal for workers.
Democrats should disavow “socialism” because it’s just a word with too many negative connotations. But the fact is that a $15 minimum wage is a government effort to improve the lives of millions of people by regulating business. And the general public supports it everywhere and every time it’s on the ballot.
Patriotic Free Enterprise is a better frame for what the nation should achieve: Fairness for workers in a free enterprise nation.
Social justice and economic development should be partners in the decade of the 2020’s. Without solid employment and economic opportunity, it will be impossible to improve the lives of ordinary Americans because the general public will not support programs that are PERCEIVED to be welfare and socialism. (Perceived is capitalized because no one, not even Bernie Sanders, is a true socialist.)
Finally, Georgia is swinging Blue this year because Georgia businesses are booming and young people are flocking to the state. It’s a great state with a Republican governor only because of voter suppression. Stacy Abrams is the true leader of Georgia. Democrats should stake their claim to True Blue Patriotic Free Enterprise and stake a claim to two more Senate seats in January.