Democratic Messaging for Campaigns

[hildegaard28]

The Republican party has for too long been on the cutting edge of messaging. Democrats are lagging in getting their messaging out due to lack of messaging that truly speaks to the American people. Americans love freedom. As Democrats, we need to tap into that love for freedom. Republicans have been working hard to repeal freedoms that Americans have long cherished. First Amendment freedoms are under attack in towns and cities across the country. In red states, laws are being drafted which seek to limit the ability of people to speak their minds, express themselves, and associate with whom they wish.

The Republican attempts to ban drag and gay pride parades in Tennessee and Florida, the bans on teaching of certain subjects or saying certain words in public schools and universities, and book bans are all attempts to suppress speech and expression in violation of the constitutional protections of the First Amendment. In Florida, public school teachers have been threatened with felonies if they even have certain books displayed in their classrooms. The extremist agenda of these Republicans needs to be countered with the correct language to get the attention of people and stir up passions of an otherwise apathetic and uniformed public. The messaging outlined below can help Democrats at all levels of government stir up those passions and snap the public out of complacency.

When speaking about Republican bans on certain words or topics in public school and university classrooms use the term Republican thought control. Most Americans abhor having their thoughts controlled. Using such terminology can achieve a sense of disgust in many Americans and help to sway their opinions against such bans.
Referring to Republicans as the “thought police” is another way to sour the public on these policies. When speaking to the press or at events about these bans, say for example, “The Republican Thought Police want to ban talk of slavery in the classroom. They want us to forget the atrocities of the past so they can bring them back today.”

When speaking of Republican book bans, refer to these bans as the Republicans creating a government nanny state which takes responsibility for parenting away from parents and gives it to the government. Republicans have in the past used such language to refer to Democratic initiatives to create healthy eating policies in schools. It can be used to great effect against them on this issue. Independents and moderate Republicans who still believe in the older Republican ideals can be swayed by such language, as well as reinforcing the sentiment among our own ranks.
Highlight the most extremist Republican words in commercials, emails, and other advertisements to emphasize what is at stake.

Democrats everywhere need to emphasize their support of freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and freedom of expression in public spaces everywhere, particularly in classrooms. Stifling in-classroom discussions is a violation of that freedom, especially for students, and can lead to indoctrination.
Expound on the fact that in-classroom speech bans are stifling discussion.

Democrats need to constantly bring up the fact that the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to free expression even when that speech and expression offends some people.
In ads, show Nazis freely marching through the streets of Florida, while drag entertainers are dragged off stage in handcuffs. Ask, “Is this the America you want?”

Republicans in states like Oklahoma and Texas are attempting to push Christian indoctrination in public schools. This can be framed as taking away the rights of parents to teach their children their own religion and allows corrupt government officials to decide in what religion children should be raised. Emphasize that Democrats want to protect separation of church and state in order to protect religious the religious freedom of parents and children.

Emphasize that Democrats care about citizens regardless of political affiliation, emphasizing that we want to protect Social Security for everyone, protect Medicare and Medicaid, while Republicans are actively opposed to these programs no matter what they say, as evidenced by their continuing support and lack of effort to stop Elon Musk and his DOGE program in making rapid and unsupervised changes to these programs.

[usonian]

1. I got a short and simple email from Bernie.

You mention crucial issues. I Heard Kamala and Tim press those points, plus the ones in the short message below.
A lot of people apparently weren't listening, or were put off by something (and voter suppression was enormous)

Bernie and AOC have been drawing enormous and enthusiastic crowds and have been setting up grassroots organizations in states.
Here:

People attending rallies in huge numbers are saying
YES to raising the minimum wage,
YES to expanding Social Security,
YES to guaranteeing health care as a human right,
YES to cutting the cost of prescription drugs,
YES to paid family and medical leave,
YES to equal pay for equal work,
YES to more affordable housing,
YES to making childcare and higher education affordable to all,
YES to taking on the existential threat of climate change.

And most importantly they are saying
YES to a government and an economy that works for all of us and not just the billionaire class and the Oligarchs.

[Trust_Reality]

2. Also, try to keep the for-profit media from using "R" words, like WOKE.

The opposite of woke, is asleep.
"R" politicians promote policies as if they are policy zombies from the dark ages.

Stop using words from political science text books, like "oligarch".
Call them power hungry billionaires.

Ask more questions: "How would you decide who should get affordable health care?"

"Why should we care about climate change?"

"Are you prepared for when a climate disaster hits your neighborhood?"

[hildegaard28]

3. Another idea

For discussing Medicaid and Medicare is bringing up the fact that it helps boost the economy. Some people oppose these programs because they believe that those programs are for freeloaders. By bringing up the fact that it helps bring and keep jobs in the community and the economy, jobs which can't be off-shored, it can help bring more conservative types on board with the programs and gives a simple talking point that your average person can grasp.

We could refer to the oligarchs as super greedy rich, ungodly wealthy, etc. Ungodly wealthy would probably resonate with the more religious areas of the country. New talking point: God hates greed. Emphasize that the Bible says you can't serve both God and Mammon. We need to use religion to appeal to people who are religious.