Messaging the 2024 election
This post is long and flirts with the 10% fair use limit, but I’ll try to keep under it.
Dave Kellogg has a blog post up from a few days ago comparing the messaging of Team Trump vs Team Biden. Read the whole thing, but here are some core points. Kellogg distills the Democratic two-word message to “Save Democracy” and the GOP two-word message to “Save America.”
In short:
• “Republicans want to save the country, Democrats want to save an idea. Saving the country is infinitely more visceral and motivating.
• “Republicans want to fight crises, Democrats want to fight a man. This positions the Republicans as trying to help the average American and the Democrats as fighting a personal battle.
“Logically, the Republican message almost auto-justifies extraordinary means in order to achieve its critical end. Who cares about saving democracy when America itself is at risk? We need to save our country and our way of life — and if that means taking a few liberties and/or tyranny of the minority, then so be it. We’re talking about saving America, here. We can fix that other stuff, later.”
Where does this take us?
“Save America points you in the direction of talking about the threats to America. That is, from the audience’s perspective, the day-to-day problems they face. As I’ve said many times, convincing someone you understand and care about the problem — in software or in politics — counts for about 80% of the sale.”
“Save Democracy points you in the direction of Trump. He is the threat to democracy. So you start to talk about the things he’s done and the risks of what he might do. That leads to talking about the people who’ve joined him, the inner circle at first, but if you keep going, you get to the entire Republican party. Ending here is disastrous because, as Hillary clearly demonstrated, insulting people isn’t a great strategy to win their support.
“The narrative ends up sounding personal, angry, and negative. And it can lead to a deplorables style write-off of your opponent’s supporters and, more dangerously, the Independents who sympathize with them.”
What is to be done?
“I’d recommend the following ways to improve the Democratic messaging:
• Not adopt a save-something counter message. This blows things up on the launch pad and lets the opponent define the agenda.
• Sell today’s success. Several surveys show that many Americans think they (and interestingly, other Americans) are doing worse than they actually are. The cardinal sin of marketing is under-marketing reality.
• Sell a vision for a brighter future. I’m not sure what or how, but that’s what people want to buy. Sell it to them. It’s a far better strategy than attacking the other guy in the name of saving a relatively unpopular idea.
• Don’t turn the race into a good vs. evil battle. This is precisely what the opposition wants. Don’t give it to them.
• Put an emphasis on actual solutions. Where’s the beef? What are the details of the “better” health plan? This one’s dangerous, but so is giving your competitor a pass on their ability to solve problems.”
Discuss.
Messaging the 2024 presidential election
NH is a swing state. So what did the primary results tell us about the general election?
Boston Globe – late yesterday
NH voters tend to be “independent”, whether they declare a party or stay independent so they can declare at the polls and revert the next day……
That said current state wide offices are almost all democrats except for Sununu a GOP mainstreamer, who got a lot of independent votes and replaced Maggie Hassan a dem now in the US senate.
I am not sure it should be comforting to democrats’ national plans that NH independents did not make Haley ‘look better’!
“The Republican Party controls the offices of governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and both chambers of the NH state legislature.”
All members of the NH congressional delgation are Dems.
Dem leadership in NH was more interested in getting a majority for Biden, which was achieved. Presumably they were not particularly interested in supporting Haley, even if moderate voters WERE.
Let’s leave it at that, maybe.
Trump got three times as many votes as Biden did.
NH primary voter turnout exceeds secretary of state prediction (wmur.com)
Presumably, some independent voters who are ‘moderate’ cast their votes for Haley, but will vote for Biden in November.
Hopefully, most if not all independent NH voters who are ‘moderate’ will cast their votes for Biden in November. Many, when asked, simply said they did not want Trump re-elected.
This is such an important topic and Democrats consistently seem to have a hard time getting their message across. I for one, could not get into the Dave Kellogg article past the beginning part where he claims the Republican message is to “Save America.” Sorry, I just can’t buy it. More appropriate would be: “Save Autocracy;” “Save Racism;” or “Save Trumpism.”
Trump, who now is the heart & soul of the Republican Party (until the old GOP shows us differently), has become a master at the concept of “Big Lie Messaging“: Tell a big lie and tell it often and people will begin to believe it. “I won the election;” no you didn’t. “The economy is a disaster;” no it isn’t. “The Biden family are criminals;” no they aren’t. Etc., etc. Yet, millions and millions of Americans now believe these lies which have been hammered into their heads for several years.
While Republicans have been successful in communicating and messaging their lies about Biden and Democrats (as above); Democrats seem far less effective in communicating their messaging about Republicans. Trump & his MAGA followers who now represent the GOP, are: against Ukraine funding, against solving the border problem, against abortion rights, against non-whites, against climate change solutions, against gun control, against labor unions, against the Affordable Care Act, against voting rights, against the rule of law, against the Constitution, etc. Most of these issues have widespread popular support.
Hopefully, as the 2024 campaign continues, Democratic messaging will improve, but I am betting on the American voters that they will be able to sort through the garbage and find the wishbone of Democracy, and continue to show the world that the USA has not given up on the great experiment and continues to believe in Democracy and the rule of law.
@McJ,
” . . . I am betting on the American voters that they will be able to sort through the garbage and find the wishbone of Democracy, and continue to show the world that the USA has not given up on the great experiment and continues to believe in Democracy and the rule of law.”
From your keyboard to G*d’s eyes.