Thank you. May I suggest an edit to your final two talking points bullets? The second bullet leads with “Republicans have repeatedly betrayed the country...” I agree with this, it is clearly factual, but I fear it is less effective with undecideds than the points immediately following it. It is too vague for an uninitiated audience, sounds rhetorical, and even made my eyes glaze over a bit.
I am perched on a rock overlooking the spectacular Madison River Valley which is about as far from Donald Trump and the Republican Party as I can get right now. Your direct language is refreshing. No more tip toeing around the elephant in the room. If Republicans win, we all lose. Joe Biden and his Administration are doing a good job and we need to highlight their accomplishments whenever we can because the “mainstream media “ won’t.
Yes, Susan! I feel that is exactly it. Speaking more forcefully, passionately, and directly is how I have helped som in my circle realize how good the Biden Administration has done and the chaos and corruption the GOP has continually used. It’s like the chaos and corruption is the pudding cup their eating out of with their fingers and expecting us to act like that’s normal.
No, the competent and compassionate governance by President Biden and the Democratic Party is what we the people expect.
That’s a great point! If Trump wins, it’s not just Biden or Democrats who lose - Republican leaders will also lose because they will have become mindless slaves to a cult like base. Republican voters will lose because they too will be stripped of the same rights and privileges and laws that they took for granted for so long. And finally America will lose because we will no longer be the land of opportunity and freedom and justice for all that so many people around the world have envied and admired for centuries.
For the longest time I thought TFG was an acronym for “The Fat Guy” until someone explained to me it was “The Former Guy.” Whatever…
Thank you so much for your daily encouragement, and guidance. We are working hard here in Texas to try to turn Texas blue. If we succeed, we will never again see a Republican in the White House. Go Blue!
This seems almost impossible based on the ridiculous levels of gerrymandering, crony capitalism and egregious corruption I’ve learned about. But Cruz’s popularity has never been lower and I pray that Abbott’s abject cruelty in the face of the death of immigrants and children will have to backfire sooner or later.
Still seems like a long shot but Hopium is a powerful drug - one that I’ll need if my son ends up going to college there. Thank you for all your efforts!
Trump no longer is relevant. The Republican Party is the problem. They have not held him accountable and now is unable to govern, threatens the military and the economy. I do not understand why the media is not raising these points more strongly.
I am very aware of "Hopium". That said, the media is degrading Pres. Biden as he personally travels in US to explain, etc the transforming legislation. The degradations: he didn't respond quickly enough to Maui tragedy [Bloomberg]; he stated "false" info or a "lie" when he said "debt" instead of "deficit" [CNN]; union members and SS recipients in AZ stated that they saw no economic recovery but the price of gas was too high [MSNBC]. With media like this, we won't need cyanide.
Sad isn’t it that Mainstream Media basically lies or avoids the truth. Ben over at MeidasTouch pushes back with Deputy Assistant to President Biden discussing Biden’s Maui Response. So share this in your networks.
You forgot “he wears casual shoes on Air Force One” (WSJ) and the most unforgivable crime of all - loving your son despite his troubled history and questionable financial relationships and having the gall not to actively participate in any of them!
Personal preference: in attacking Rs and Trump, don’t start with highlighting Biden’s record. Rather: Do you really want to support a convicted rapist or an indicted con man? What are you going to say to your children about learning right from wrong?
All very sobering stuff. I completely agree that the first words out of every Democrat’s mouth in answering every single question need to be, “Joe Biden has been a good president in extraordinarily challenging times. With the help of a strong, united Democratic Party, he has made the country better, freer, and more prosperous.”
The reason I think it’s absolutely imperative, that we say that ad nauseam, is because people’s opinion of Trump is already baked in the cake. It’s already very well understood by the bulk of the American people that he’s terrible and they don’t want him again… however, what the American people still need is a permission structure to see the good in Joe Biden, because they aren’t having any difficulty finding the bad in Donald Trump.
The trouble with the Republican party in my entire lifetime is that since the 90s their strategy has been to go ultra negative and poison people’s feelings about all politics and all government… And they have been successful in getting the American people to feel disgusted and fed up with both parties and the whole concept of government. At a moment like this, the public is just disillusioned with everyone, and we need to make it OK in their minds to consider that Joe Biden is not just less bad than Donald Trump… But that in fact he is good. We will not convince every American to feel that way, and we will have to get a lot of votes based on Joe being a less despicable choice in their eyes than the alternative… But for every single voter that we manage to help see that he has, in fact, been a very good leader, it significantly strengthens our position in the election.
There’s plenty of evidence to support the claim that Joe Biden has been a good president… We just need to give people permission to contemplate that concept, and let the evidence do the rest of the work.
Oh that is SO well said, PianoManSteve! I really do trust my fellow Americans to call a spade a spade when they see the evidence themselves. What is presented to a grand jury of your peers? Evidence. What keeps happening? They keep voting there’s enough evidence to go to trial.
Like you said, now they just need the evidence that Joe Biden has been a good president. They need to hear why the Democratic Party is strong, united, and delivering freedom focused results for Americans.
Latest AP/NORC poll reported today say that 64% say that they would probably or definitely would not vote for Trump if he were the nominee for president. Only 32% view him favorably. When we think that the coverage is favorable of Trump, it isn't getting through. Long clip on MSNBC this morning on this. They report that the GA case seems to really be breaking through.
Simon, I do want to ask about Rep Phillips who is saying that he may run on the Dem ticket. Is this getting any traction? I am not hearing anyone else say anything about this at all-other than him.
I think you've answered your own question...the Dems have been extremely disciplined, strategic and savvy by not distracting from a Biden re-election with a contentious and wasteful primary (unsurprisingly, it's framing our media is not using in talking about how united Dems are behind a two-term Biden Presidency).
As Simon reminds us - let's focus on the fact that our country is better off, because Biden has been such a good President. In fact, one of his many, many, many accomplishments that gets way too little attention, the high number of judicial appointments -- and not just the volume, but the quality/diversity of those confirmations.
Simon - a couple if thoughts. One of the strongest things you said Thursday night that has stuck with me is that it was the Republican Party that tried to overthrow the govt and nullify an election. There is no doubt and it is more accurate than to say Trump did it.
As to your list in today's email, we have to add the hell MAGA has put LGBTQ kids and their parents through and the lies they've told about immigrants.
When govt sets out to deliberately hurt people, there's something really wrong. (As it has been at numerous times throughout our country's history with various groups.)
Your list of MAGA Republican attacks on our citizens, our values and our institutions should be a wake up call to all; we simply can't afford to continue with the business-as-usual, both sides-ism that we see in the media and broader discourse. This isn't about apples and oranges. It's literally apples and ordinances (especially given the rising levels of stochastic terrorism).
And...since we are trying to excite our base voters AND reach the broader persuadable voters, below are some subtle, but key changes:
Our country is better off today. Joe Biden is a good President. Together, we can re-elect Biden and Democratic representatives to keep winning progress, protect our democracy and American freedoms.
Re: the thinking on these recommendations around sequencing / word choices:
1) Lead off with shared value for everyone (rather than the political figure) and also add personalization.
2) de-emphasize political party-speak, but make clear it's not Biden alone that's delivered progress, also ties little 'd' democracy to our electeds and re-emphasizes idea that who we elect should represent us...
3) use active voice with 're-elect' to portray the voters as the agents of change; also remind them that we were successful in doing so before and can again, explicitly by coming together
4) strengthen positive value of progress with 'winning'
5) introduce the idea that the opposition (without naming them or amplifying them) is trying to attack our democracy and take away our freedoms, which Biden/Dems will fight to save
6) tie 'American' to 'freedom' for added patriotic emphasis
Interesting take. Thank you for sharing, Natalie! 😊 The way you broke this down, I got the feeling you have some experience with how people engage with messages. Is that right?
Hi Matthew - my professional background is in product and corporate brand marketing, and then nonprofit social media and membership outreach.
As a volunteer organizer for Sister District Project in SF, I've also been working on training Democratic activists to use a messaging model based on / developed by the Research Collaborative (pulling from the race-class narrative created by Ian Haney Lopez/Heather McGhee, based on the moral framework from cognitive linguist George Lakoff, and leveraging the specific, focus group- and polling-tested 3V structure that Anat Shenker-Osario shares).
That sounds really interesting to me. Thank you so much for going into the details. I love learning about basically anything, and this definitely falls under “basically anything”. Any suggestions on how I can learn more?
Hi Matthew - here's a training video on the messaging framework. And after (if) you watch, and you're interested in learning resources, I can share a pdf with detailed how-to and other reference materials.
Republicans are playing "virtual politics" - a practice that is very well described by Prof Heather Cox Richardson in this video. "virtual politics" is insidious and MAGA has mastered it.
Thank you. May I suggest an edit to your final two talking points bullets? The second bullet leads with “Republicans have repeatedly betrayed the country...” I agree with this, it is clearly factual, but I fear it is less effective with undecideds than the points immediately following it. It is too vague for an uninitiated audience, sounds rhetorical, and even made my eyes glaze over a bit.
Thank you for your amazing work.
I am perched on a rock overlooking the spectacular Madison River Valley which is about as far from Donald Trump and the Republican Party as I can get right now. Your direct language is refreshing. No more tip toeing around the elephant in the room. If Republicans win, we all lose. Joe Biden and his Administration are doing a good job and we need to highlight their accomplishments whenever we can because the “mainstream media “ won’t.
Yes, Susan! I feel that is exactly it. Speaking more forcefully, passionately, and directly is how I have helped som in my circle realize how good the Biden Administration has done and the chaos and corruption the GOP has continually used. It’s like the chaos and corruption is the pudding cup their eating out of with their fingers and expecting us to act like that’s normal.
No, the competent and compassionate governance by President Biden and the Democratic Party is what we the people expect.
That’s a great point! If Trump wins, it’s not just Biden or Democrats who lose - Republican leaders will also lose because they will have become mindless slaves to a cult like base. Republican voters will lose because they too will be stripped of the same rights and privileges and laws that they took for granted for so long. And finally America will lose because we will no longer be the land of opportunity and freedom and justice for all that so many people around the world have envied and admired for centuries.
Beating Republicans decisively will send a powerful message to autocrats throughout the world. We simply must do this.
You are 100% correct. This is the endgame. We have to win.
For the longest time I thought TFG was an acronym for “The Fat Guy” until someone explained to me it was “The Former Guy.” Whatever…
Thank you so much for your daily encouragement, and guidance. We are working hard here in Texas to try to turn Texas blue. If we succeed, we will never again see a Republican in the White House. Go Blue!
“The fat guy” works for me! 😜
This seems almost impossible based on the ridiculous levels of gerrymandering, crony capitalism and egregious corruption I’ve learned about. But Cruz’s popularity has never been lower and I pray that Abbott’s abject cruelty in the face of the death of immigrants and children will have to backfire sooner or later.
Still seems like a long shot but Hopium is a powerful drug - one that I’ll need if my son ends up going to college there. Thank you for all your efforts!
I would add a third blunt and forceful point that needs to be repeatedly stated, Simon:
Vice-President Harris is extraordinarily competent, and fully-qualified to become President if called upon to do so.
.
Yessss!
As is the Biden administration as a whole!
As I hear and see more from VP Harris, it has become so obviously true. Thank you for highlighting, Jerry. 😊
Trump no longer is relevant. The Republican Party is the problem. They have not held him accountable and now is unable to govern, threatens the military and the economy. I do not understand why the media is not raising these points more strongly.
I am very aware of "Hopium". That said, the media is degrading Pres. Biden as he personally travels in US to explain, etc the transforming legislation. The degradations: he didn't respond quickly enough to Maui tragedy [Bloomberg]; he stated "false" info or a "lie" when he said "debt" instead of "deficit" [CNN]; union members and SS recipients in AZ stated that they saw no economic recovery but the price of gas was too high [MSNBC]. With media like this, we won't need cyanide.
Sad isn’t it that Mainstream Media basically lies or avoids the truth. Ben over at MeidasTouch pushes back with Deputy Assistant to President Biden discussing Biden’s Maui Response. So share this in your networks.
https://youtu.be/0aoU64p11Ss
Thank you for highlighting this, B Johnson. 😊
You forgot “he wears casual shoes on Air Force One” (WSJ) and the most unforgivable crime of all - loving your son despite his troubled history and questionable financial relationships and having the gall not to actively participate in any of them!
Personal preference: in attacking Rs and Trump, don’t start with highlighting Biden’s record. Rather: Do you really want to support a convicted rapist or an indicted con man? What are you going to say to your children about learning right from wrong?
All very sobering stuff. I completely agree that the first words out of every Democrat’s mouth in answering every single question need to be, “Joe Biden has been a good president in extraordinarily challenging times. With the help of a strong, united Democratic Party, he has made the country better, freer, and more prosperous.”
The reason I think it’s absolutely imperative, that we say that ad nauseam, is because people’s opinion of Trump is already baked in the cake. It’s already very well understood by the bulk of the American people that he’s terrible and they don’t want him again… however, what the American people still need is a permission structure to see the good in Joe Biden, because they aren’t having any difficulty finding the bad in Donald Trump.
The trouble with the Republican party in my entire lifetime is that since the 90s their strategy has been to go ultra negative and poison people’s feelings about all politics and all government… And they have been successful in getting the American people to feel disgusted and fed up with both parties and the whole concept of government. At a moment like this, the public is just disillusioned with everyone, and we need to make it OK in their minds to consider that Joe Biden is not just less bad than Donald Trump… But that in fact he is good. We will not convince every American to feel that way, and we will have to get a lot of votes based on Joe being a less despicable choice in their eyes than the alternative… But for every single voter that we manage to help see that he has, in fact, been a very good leader, it significantly strengthens our position in the election.
There’s plenty of evidence to support the claim that Joe Biden has been a good president… We just need to give people permission to contemplate that concept, and let the evidence do the rest of the work.
Oh that is SO well said, PianoManSteve! I really do trust my fellow Americans to call a spade a spade when they see the evidence themselves. What is presented to a grand jury of your peers? Evidence. What keeps happening? They keep voting there’s enough evidence to go to trial.
Like you said, now they just need the evidence that Joe Biden has been a good president. They need to hear why the Democratic Party is strong, united, and delivering freedom focused results for Americans.
Thank you for sharing, PianoManSteve. 😎
I think I’m registered for both (hopefully no last minute interruptions ), need to put that notation on the calendar reminder.
Latest AP/NORC poll reported today say that 64% say that they would probably or definitely would not vote for Trump if he were the nominee for president. Only 32% view him favorably. When we think that the coverage is favorable of Trump, it isn't getting through. Long clip on MSNBC this morning on this. They report that the GA case seems to really be breaking through.
Simon, I do want to ask about Rep Phillips who is saying that he may run on the Dem ticket. Is this getting any traction? I am not hearing anyone else say anything about this at all-other than him.
I think you've answered your own question...the Dems have been extremely disciplined, strategic and savvy by not distracting from a Biden re-election with a contentious and wasteful primary (unsurprisingly, it's framing our media is not using in talking about how united Dems are behind a two-term Biden Presidency).
As Simon reminds us - let's focus on the fact that our country is better off, because Biden has been such a good President. In fact, one of his many, many, many accomplishments that gets way too little attention, the high number of judicial appointments -- and not just the volume, but the quality/diversity of those confirmations.
Here https://prospect.org/justice/2023-08-07-sea-change-democrats-judiciary/ for details.
Simon - a couple if thoughts. One of the strongest things you said Thursday night that has stuck with me is that it was the Republican Party that tried to overthrow the govt and nullify an election. There is no doubt and it is more accurate than to say Trump did it.
As to your list in today's email, we have to add the hell MAGA has put LGBTQ kids and their parents through and the lies they've told about immigrants.
When govt sets out to deliberately hurt people, there's something really wrong. (As it has been at numerous times throughout our country's history with various groups.)
Another REALLY great post.
Your list of MAGA Republican attacks on our citizens, our values and our institutions should be a wake up call to all; we simply can't afford to continue with the business-as-usual, both sides-ism that we see in the media and broader discourse. This isn't about apples and oranges. It's literally apples and ordinances (especially given the rising levels of stochastic terrorism).
And...since we are trying to excite our base voters AND reach the broader persuadable voters, below are some subtle, but key changes:
Our country is better off today. Joe Biden is a good President. Together, we can re-elect Biden and Democratic representatives to keep winning progress, protect our democracy and American freedoms.
Re: the thinking on these recommendations around sequencing / word choices:
1) Lead off with shared value for everyone (rather than the political figure) and also add personalization.
2) de-emphasize political party-speak, but make clear it's not Biden alone that's delivered progress, also ties little 'd' democracy to our electeds and re-emphasizes idea that who we elect should represent us...
3) use active voice with 're-elect' to portray the voters as the agents of change; also remind them that we were successful in doing so before and can again, explicitly by coming together
4) strengthen positive value of progress with 'winning'
5) introduce the idea that the opposition (without naming them or amplifying them) is trying to attack our democracy and take away our freedoms, which Biden/Dems will fight to save
6) tie 'American' to 'freedom' for added patriotic emphasis
Interesting take. Thank you for sharing, Natalie! 😊 The way you broke this down, I got the feeling you have some experience with how people engage with messages. Is that right?
Hi Matthew - my professional background is in product and corporate brand marketing, and then nonprofit social media and membership outreach.
As a volunteer organizer for Sister District Project in SF, I've also been working on training Democratic activists to use a messaging model based on / developed by the Research Collaborative (pulling from the race-class narrative created by Ian Haney Lopez/Heather McGhee, based on the moral framework from cognitive linguist George Lakoff, and leveraging the specific, focus group- and polling-tested 3V structure that Anat Shenker-Osario shares).
That sounds really interesting to me. Thank you so much for going into the details. I love learning about basically anything, and this definitely falls under “basically anything”. Any suggestions on how I can learn more?
Hi Matthew - here's a training video on the messaging framework. And after (if) you watch, and you're interested in learning resources, I can share a pdf with detailed how-to and other reference materials.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OYe6blM2aPrmMvS05VvfdVXgcOeb3Kxg/view?ts=644ac66a
Thank you! I will definitely watch it.
Republicans are playing "virtual politics" - a practice that is very well described by Prof Heather Cox Richardson in this video. "virtual politics" is insidious and MAGA has mastered it.
https://fb.watch/muiPcnI_AT/?mibextid=NnVzG8
If people want to talk/write about what President Biden has accomplished, there is an excellent resource at:
WH.gov/climate, WH.gov/womens’ healthcare, WH.gov/wildfires, WH.gov/border security,
WH.gov/child tax credit, WH.gov/infrastructure,
WH.gov/affordable connectivity, and a lot more!
Excellent post.