With less than 5 months (!) to go to the 2018 mid- term elections, the Democratic Party thinks it has a unifying, overarching message that will resonate with voters. "A Better Deal for Our Democracy," unveiled yesterday, focuses on Republican corruption in three areas: voting rights and access, campaign finance, and pay- to- play politics. While issues such as health care, women's reproductive rights, income inequality, and off- shoring American jobs will play significant roles in individual district and Senate races, Republican corruption and the party's unwillingness to hold kleptocrat and crime family boss Donald "Rump" Trump accountable in any way, shape or form, polls very well across the political spectrum (as the linked article shows).
The beauty of this strategy is that it can accommodate and fold in what is likely to be a summer of revelations and indictments coming from the Mueller investigation. The message can be boiled down to a single notion, Adam Serwer points out,
There are not many Trump scandals. There is one Trump scandal. Singular: the corruption of the American government by the president and his associates, who are using their official power for personal and financial gain rather than for the welfare of the American people, and their attempts to shield that corruption from political consequences, public scrutiny, or legal accountability.Speaking for ourselves, it wouldn't matter much what the Democrats' message is for the mid- terms (and we suspect that's true for most other politically- woke folks). We're going to vote straight Democratic ticket from County Clerk to Congress to Governor. To do otherwise is to vote against what's left of American democracy.
For those less politically in- touch but "reachable," a message stressing Rump's and his cronies' endemic and blatant corruption -- to the detriment of those who play by the rules -- can be easily absorbed, especially if it's paired (where most effective) with Democratic proposals on economic and social issues. But the messaging has to be clear, simple and repeated. Democrats need to get this right; the stakes are too high for them to fail.
BONUS:
A perennial theme, really works well here -- exposes the "drain the swamp" hypocrisy and ties GOP Congress to Trump. https://t.co/jFXcPt4U1p— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) May 22, 2018
Great News https://t.co/pbjV8RTIxd— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) May 21, 2018
(h/t Balloon Juice)
