DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER

Figure out the Message

“Democrats, in the minds of the American public, are lower than the Dead Sea.”
--CNN’s Harry Enten on new polling showing the Democratic Party with record-low approval, including among Democrats.

“In just a few hours, Earth will reach the closest point to one of the rarest visitors ever observed—interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Traveling through our solar system at an extraordinary speed, this object did not form around our Sun.

It originated in another star system and has been passing through interstellar space for millions of years before briefly crossing our path.” The President has renamed the Interstellar traveler “3I/Trump” in honor of his origination in another universe.

One of these things is true. One is partially true but not unimaginable. Here we are, just about having survived the first quarter of the twenty-first century, and the cavalcade of unimaginables boggles the collective conscious.

The wrecking ball that is the current administration is based on a denial of reality embodied in the corpus delecti of a demented but dangerous narcissist whose every action revolves, like the earth in its orbit, around elevating the ego of it progenitor and seeking to denigrate those who are its perceived foes.

So, rename the comet? Why not. Rename the Kennedy Center for the Arts? De rigeur. The Gulf of America? Post bronze plaques under the portraits or effigies of past Presidents, sniping at predecessors? Nanny Boo-Boo..wah, wah, wah. Suck my thumb. He’ll probably try to rename the San Andreas fault as Joe Biden’s fault..At least it answers the question, what the hell does Trump do all day while his minions and sycophants are brutalizing the Country in his name? He sits around tweeting nastiness and conjuring up new insults to the body politic.

So why then, in light of the obvious deficiencies, lies, insults, and failures of Trump and the Republicans are Democrats still at such a low ebb in popular opinion? Why hasn’t the clear proof of criminality, corruption, and chaos been enough to galvanize public opinion around the Democrats as the salvation of the Nation. Why aren’t Democrats seen as the knights in shining armor, leading the charge towards the glory of American promise and prosperity.

A few short days ago, the Democratic Party leadership, in its ineffable wisdom, announced that it was reneging on its intent to release the results of an after-election political autopsy. The leadership declared that releasing the study would just cause unnecessary conflict. A summary provided by the DNC’s Ken Martin focused on operational issues, such as outreach, canvassing, etc. Talk about denial of reality. There is something deeper than operational failure going on and the deeper issues are not new.

Democrats are riven by self-doubt. Democrats are engaged in a generational internecine conflict that is tantamount to political civil war. Theories and prognostication about the Party’s woes abound. “He was too old”, “She was too…”, “We weren’t….” “They were too…”

Perhaps the release of the report could have shed some light on the internal debates? Perhaps the release of the report would have, at least, shown that the Democratic Party leadership respects its constituents enough to trust their ability to suck it up and deal with whatever truth or reality check the report contained.

One thing seems clear to me. In failing to release the report, in derogation of its stated purpose and intent, the Party leadership has shown that it embodies the reasons for the ongoing failure of the Democratic Party. Can the Democratic Party face facts, refocus and fire the imagination of American voters and position itself as the political party capable of electoral success and governance over the long term. Can we recalibrate the American Dream and lead the Nation through challenging times to future peace and prosperity?

A few years ago after I left Congress, I convened a group and started an organization to deal with the very issues the Democratic Party faced then and now. Our policies are better, our thinking more rational, our hearts more open to opportunity for all, but why then are voters stuck in their perceptions of Democrats? Why are we at such a low ebb in public esteem?

At the time, we posited that what was necessary was a better approach to messaging. We recognized that Democrats convened in a broad, tumultuous tent. We saw the more modern, more “Madison Avenue” techniques that Republicans employed to deliver catchy, cohesive messaging and determined to employ a similar approach to developing a cohesive, emotionally resonant message for Democrats that would unite the various factions of the Party and provide a framework that could be employed at every level. We would engage ordinary voters, not Party insiders, staffers, and electeds, to hear what their views were. We would craft different messages and test them with both the latest neuro-science and focus groups. When the proper language and message emerged, we would employ polling to test the messaging. We would offer the narrative and messages to candidates and electeds to test prior to the upcoming Presidential election of 2016.

Our primary sponsor lost interest fairly quickly and rank and file Democrats declined to come onboard. As the Candidacy of Hillary Clinton took off our sponsor opined “I’m spending all my money on Hilary. If she doesn’t have a message than we’re cooked any”. In fact, we were cooked. Her message “Better Together” was not a winning formula. Contrast and compare, if you will with the recent Republican messaging in the last election.. “She is for they/them…President Trump is for YOU!”

Not to overstate the obvious, the Republicans are masters at galvanizing emotional responses around fear, loathing, and othering. They brilliantly use divisive social issues to reach voters on a visceral level, evoking emotional resonance that echoes in the voting booth. Democrats are thinkers. Republicans win because voters may not have the facts, but they know how they feel.

And so, here we are again. What do Democrats stand for? What bold, forward-looking policies coalesce into a policy agenda to meet the challenges of environmental degradation, gilded age greed, patriarchal power, AI, internet misinformation, income inequality, Corporate domination, etc. How do Democrats translate a policy agenda for the 21^st century into messaging that captures the hearts.

How do we meet fear with Hope? Combat lies with reality? Fight Autocracy with Imagination? Turn from the Darkness of othering to the light of the common good?

Democrats need not only an electoral autopsy focused on election operations, but a deep dive into the values and ideals we share as Americans and the way forward in a time of chaos and disillusion in a tumultuous century, to recover, reframe, and inspire an American Dream. Nothing less will suffice. It doesn’t appear that the Party leadership is up to the task..or even aware of the task. We’ll have to figure it out for ourselves.

Keep the faith.