As I discussed in a previous diary, Republicans don’t have exclusive rights to knock on political consulting industries. The previous diary was about the rural voter whisperers (and how to ignore them). This diary is about ... the messaging magicians.
For the record, I like Rachel Bitecofer very much. I think she has a lot of good points. And she has every right to earn a living. But the premise here is that if Democrats can’t fix their messaging problems (for a fee, I’m sure), they’re doomed. Democracy is doomed. We’re all doomed. Democrats are already facing a ten alarm fire 😨 after (barely) losing a race in Virginia the President’s party has lost 7 of the 8 past cycles. And Rachel Bitecofer is not without a point. Look at this shocking story from Politico just today:
Would proper messaging from Democrats overcome a media environment that wants a negative perception of the economy to help get Republicans back in power because boring Biden is bad for their ratings? Probably not. The White House has been very clear about the Biden Boom.
Also, if historical trends hold, the Democrats will probably lose House and Senate seats this fall no matter what they do. So it’s a causal fallacy to assert that Democrats will lose because they don’t do what you prescribe. This is not far removed from me threatening that the sun will set tonight plunging us into darkness unless Democrats fix their messaging.
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The Messaging Magicians tell us that not only are Democrats awful at messaging, Republicans are always on message, and super good at it too. Remember, we’re in an environment where Republicans will probably see gains if they can just shit up and say nothing for the next 7 months. Let’s look at what has transpired recently:
Voldemort Sen. Rick Scott put out a terrifying 11-point plan for what Republicans would do if they win the midterms that would probably be less popular than COVID, if polled.
Mitch McConnell knows how to win the midterm: Oppose everything Joe Biden does, blame him for anything that goes wrong, but never lay out an agenda that turns the election into a choice rather than a referendum… Last week, however, Sen. Rick Scott ... threw a wrench into the machine with his “11 Point Plan to Rescue America,” a manifesto that mixes Newt Gingrich’s kick-the-poor ’90s with Trumpian authoritarianism, white Christian nationalism, overt attacks on voting rights, economic and constitutional illiteracy, and a Mack truck full of gaslighting.
This isn’t a hard rule to follow. Even halfwits the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert manage.
Now North Carolina’s senior Senator, Tom Tillis, says he’s backing Cawthorn’s primary opponent. In the context of electoral politics, that’s little short of a death sentence.
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Yes, Democrats can always do better.
But Democrats do not have their own dedicated media ecosystem to maintain and reinforce National messaging, because Democrats lack the widespread authoritarian personality disorder necessary to seek biased reporting. It’s why Air America failed. Democrats consume News, Republicans consume propaganda. Democrats also do not have a National political press on their side. Josh Marshall famously wrote how the DC political press is wired for Republicans. With their craving of access, worship of power, insecurity, neediness, and penchant for vibes, laziness and false equivalency, yet with one eye always looking for the big cash out book deal, the DC Press will never get what they so desire from Democrats.
But all that Republican mess happened in about the span of a month. A month! Just because it’s not a National story doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
Forget the messaging magicians. And don’t intimidate yourself by believing Republicans are masters of the messaging universe. Because they clearly aren’t.
