Thom Hartmann - First, Democrats must frame the fight in simple, moral terms. From the Civil Rights era to the War in Vietnam, there was a time when my party knew how to do this; lately, it seems they’ve all fallen asleep (with a few rare exceptions)…
Second, Democrats should stop playing defense and instead seize the populist high ground. …
In today’s social media politics if you’re not fighting as if it’s war, you’re losing. Instead of arguing for “fair” taxation, say, “Trump wants to kill your healthcare and torch your kid’s school to pay for his billionaire tax cuts!”
Or, as Reagan once asked a group of schoolchildren in a moment of accidental candor, “Do you think the millionaire ought to pay more in taxes than the bus driver or less?” The kids all shouted, “More!”
Keep it simple.
Third, ruthlessly define the Republican opposition and the morbidly rich broligarchs who own them…
Instead of generalizations or abstractions, Democrats must characterize Republicans in stark, explicit terms. Instead of saying, “Trump’s policies are dangerous,” they should claim, “Trump is trying to be a dictator, and wants to destroy our democracy.”…
Fourth, tell stories instead of facts. …Every woman victimized by Republican abortion laws should have her story spread far and wide, like GOP strategists did with Laken Riley, the woman killed by an undocumented criminal. Instead of noting that Harvard Medical School found that over 45,000 Americans die every year because insurance companies refuse to pay for procedures or treatments, pick two or three peoples’ horror stories and make them as famous as Republicans did with Ashli Babbit, Daniel Penny, and Kyle Rittenhouse…
Fifth, use repetition and slogans. Remember the old advertising bromide that people don’t recognize a message until they’ve seen or heard it at least seven times.
Donald Trump knows this one well; remember his “Build the wall” and “Fake news” slogans? He repeated them until every American who’s even half-conscious was repeating them in their sleep. Same with “Make America Great Again.”…
Sixth, appeal to patriotism and invoke American history and values. Lincoln framed the Civil War as a battle for the survival of democracy itself. …Democrats must reclaim the language of patriotism. “The real America is one where every vote counts, every worker gets a fair wage, and every kid has a future.” “MAGA racism and sexism should have no place in our country.” “Our founders fought and died for freedom, not for tax breaks for Trump’s rich Mar-a- Lago friends.”
Seven, take a lesson from late-night television and weaponize humor: Use mockery against self-aggrandizing Republicans like Trump…But don’t forget ridicule: When Marco Rubio pointed out the size of Trump’s tiny hands in 2016, he obsessed over it for more than a year. He hates having it pointed out to him that he’s bald and the plugs across the front of his hairline didn’t go right (as my wife, Louise, said to his face…
Instead of claiming, “Trump is unfit for office,” say, “America deserves a president who can spell.” Turn his absurdity into a joke.
Eight, inspire with a bold vision. …Instead of wonky crap like, “We need a more progressive tax system,” say, “Imagine an America where no one struggles just to survive. That future is possible.”
The bottom line is that Democrats and progressives win when they speak emotionally, define their enemies, tell human stories, and offer a vision worth fighting for. They lose when they sound like bureaucrats or assume that facts alone will persuade people.
No comments:
Post a Comment