Fellow optimists, here’s the recording of my With Dems presentation from Thursday, April 13th, 2023. While it was a very good iteration of the presentation, and our Q and A was robust and fun, note that I had some issues going full screen with the Powerpoint, something I’ve probably done tens of thousands of times. S—t happens, as they say.
The graphics depicting the data are very good. I look forward to being in this movement to spread the good that the Biden-Harris administration and our Dems are doing. We just had 2 of the most legislatively successful years in decades. We are getting the most progressive legislation in decades from our oldest President and our first ever female VP. People want change? This is it. We are the messengers and we need to share the benefits of this legislation so that people see that good governance works for the people. It’s us, we are the people. Share the good!
Very very positive prospective that we need to spread. Be on offense not defense fellow democracy family! Share this on social media and link it to your local voter and dem Facebook groups! Info warriors engage ur communities, friends and family with this impressive DATA! Thanks Simon!
Labels on the graphics are so small they are nearly unreadable; since the graphs are not self-explanatory, it's important that the labels be legible.
This effort seems entirely focused on using social media to spread the word; is there any thought of any other/additional methods of disseminating this information?
Friends, as I write above we had some issues with the presentation being a bit smaller than usual, and I apologize for that. So yes a few of the charts of the many dozens were a bit harder to read than usual. I am likely to do the presentation again this week in full screen so it is easier to see.
I'm sure most of your readers are much smarter than I am, but personally I need a bullet list that I can print out and memorize so I can rattle off accurate numbers in conversation. It would also be nice to have the bullet list with footnotes and citations online at an easy-to-remember URL. I can't just say "According to Simon Rosenberg," obviously. : )
I love the first chart. Just one minor issue. Is there another way to name 2 Bush Presidents without referring to them as Bushes? Maybe 2 Bushes is better than Bushes. Unfortunately, I wasn’t keen about either of the two other charts. When I have to spend 10 minutes trying to understand a chart, that’s a problem. Is there some way to add a couple of bullets at the top of each chart that give you a macro sense of what you’ll be looking at? And no shorthand/inside baseball terms.
I would like an economic graph that shows the wealth growth of Americans from 1970 - present without the top 1% in the mix. I feel the graph would look very different and more in alignment with lived experience. I remember the 90’s when the stock market always looked like a rocket ship blasting off to the moon. But take out Enron, Tyco, World Com, who were corrupt, and you had a very different graph, more realistic.
While I appreciate the focus on optimism, I am also interested in positive indicators around things like health care, mortality rates, wealth gaps, gun control and other less monetary successes. I'm not sure that a working family barely making ends meet, having a child who died of a drug overdose and lacking the basic needs to be a successful citizen will be so swayed by the GDP. Thanks for being optimistic. I'm just suggesting that money may not be the only thing to be optimistic about.
For instance, I'm very hopeful about new young politicians who are fighting for things that I care about like the Tennessee three and the young Mr Frost from Florida. They are good reason for optimism.
Im sure you noted that we have the lowest uninsured rate ever recorded; the lowest poverty rate ever recorded; incomes and wages are up; crime rates are way down; high school graduation rates are the highest in our in history. Most Americans are better off today than they were 10-20 years ago. Not everyone, but most. Tens of millions have health insurance who didnt have it. Cities are far safer than they were. The mortality rate from cancer has plummeted. Teenage pregnancy rates are a fraction of what they were a generation ago. There have been no large scale foreign terror attacks since 9/11. We have to learn how to mark progress, real progress, while understanding that there is more to do. The purpose of this presentation is make clear that with smart policy we can make things better for everyone. That's the reason we keep fighting - because we have already shown that we can make things better, and need to keep going. But yes my argument at its core is that we are better off today as a nation; that we are not in decline; that America has not lost its mojo; that we can do big things here in the US, and still have work left undone.
Re: Sunday 4/16 (7:00 PM) Zoom presentation and Communication, what could be a successful strategy for Democrats to Register essential Gen X and Gen Z voters?
Ciao from Italy Simon - I run the Instagram accounts for Democrats Abroad Italy & Vote from Abroad - is it possible to use your graphics in posts? E.g., I think that your jobs created graph is really impactful and tells a great story. I'd of course credit where I am getting the data. In case anyone is interested you can follow us on Instagram (@demsabroaditaly @votefromabroad @students.votefromabroad @yourherevotethere).
Kelly, could we do a quick call tomorrow to discuss this? My son Willie is at AUR in Rome so I will do anything you want! LMK a 15 minute window and we can Facetime, Zoom or do a traditional call. Look forward to it - S
Hi again, AUR! How cool is that? We did a big voter registration drive there last fall and registered about 100 students – the students there are super engaged!
I’d love to talk and am free today from 13:00 my time and on into the evening, so just let me know what works for you.
I’m not sure if I should be responding to this as an email, or in the substack comments. It looks like my email bounced so fingers crossed you get this.
Sorry, me again. I get all confused with the time difference. Today (Wednesday) I'm free any time from 13 CEST onwards, tomorrow (Thursday) I'm free from 13 CEST until 17 CEST and just in case 'cause I know you're busy, Friday I'm free from 13 CEST onwards.
Have you connected with SWEEP Red Wine & Blue (https://redwine.blue/). As Republicans refer to us 'The Suburban women problem'. There's over 200,000 in the Facebook group. We also want to get loud and counter the negativity of MAGA while having fun. We need economic data to share.
The graphics depicting the data are very good. I look forward to being in this movement to spread the good that the Biden-Harris administration and our Dems are doing. We just had 2 of the most legislatively successful years in decades. We are getting the most progressive legislation in decades from our oldest President and our first ever female VP. People want change? This is it. We are the messengers and we need to share the benefits of this legislation so that people see that good governance works for the people. It’s us, we are the people. Share the good!
Very very positive prospective that we need to spread. Be on offense not defense fellow democracy family! Share this on social media and link it to your local voter and dem Facebook groups! Info warriors engage ur communities, friends and family with this impressive DATA! Thanks Simon!
Labels on the graphics are so small they are nearly unreadable; since the graphs are not self-explanatory, it's important that the labels be legible.
This effort seems entirely focused on using social media to spread the word; is there any thought of any other/additional methods of disseminating this information?
I agree. (In particular, the names Clinton, Obama, and Biden were very difficult to read on the % of GDP chart.)
Friends, as I write above we had some issues with the presentation being a bit smaller than usual, and I apologize for that. So yes a few of the charts of the many dozens were a bit harder to read than usual. I am likely to do the presentation again this week in full screen so it is easier to see.
I'm sure most of your readers are much smarter than I am, but personally I need a bullet list that I can print out and memorize so I can rattle off accurate numbers in conversation. It would also be nice to have the bullet list with footnotes and citations online at an easy-to-remember URL. I can't just say "According to Simon Rosenberg," obviously. : )
I love the first chart. Just one minor issue. Is there another way to name 2 Bush Presidents without referring to them as Bushes? Maybe 2 Bushes is better than Bushes. Unfortunately, I wasn’t keen about either of the two other charts. When I have to spend 10 minutes trying to understand a chart, that’s a problem. Is there some way to add a couple of bullets at the top of each chart that give you a macro sense of what you’ll be looking at? And no shorthand/inside baseball terms.
I would like an economic graph that shows the wealth growth of Americans from 1970 - present without the top 1% in the mix. I feel the graph would look very different and more in alignment with lived experience. I remember the 90’s when the stock market always looked like a rocket ship blasting off to the moon. But take out Enron, Tyco, World Com, who were corrupt, and you had a very different graph, more realistic.
This is an excellent presentation. You (and we!)must say it again and again and again.
While I appreciate the focus on optimism, I am also interested in positive indicators around things like health care, mortality rates, wealth gaps, gun control and other less monetary successes. I'm not sure that a working family barely making ends meet, having a child who died of a drug overdose and lacking the basic needs to be a successful citizen will be so swayed by the GDP. Thanks for being optimistic. I'm just suggesting that money may not be the only thing to be optimistic about.
For instance, I'm very hopeful about new young politicians who are fighting for things that I care about like the Tennessee three and the young Mr Frost from Florida. They are good reason for optimism.
Im sure you noted that we have the lowest uninsured rate ever recorded; the lowest poverty rate ever recorded; incomes and wages are up; crime rates are way down; high school graduation rates are the highest in our in history. Most Americans are better off today than they were 10-20 years ago. Not everyone, but most. Tens of millions have health insurance who didnt have it. Cities are far safer than they were. The mortality rate from cancer has plummeted. Teenage pregnancy rates are a fraction of what they were a generation ago. There have been no large scale foreign terror attacks since 9/11. We have to learn how to mark progress, real progress, while understanding that there is more to do. The purpose of this presentation is make clear that with smart policy we can make things better for everyone. That's the reason we keep fighting - because we have already shown that we can make things better, and need to keep going. But yes my argument at its core is that we are better off today as a nation; that we are not in decline; that America has not lost its mojo; that we can do big things here in the US, and still have work left undone.
Re: Sunday 4/16 (7:00 PM) Zoom presentation and Communication, what could be a successful strategy for Democrats to Register essential Gen X and Gen Z voters?
Ciao from Italy Simon - I run the Instagram accounts for Democrats Abroad Italy & Vote from Abroad - is it possible to use your graphics in posts? E.g., I think that your jobs created graph is really impactful and tells a great story. I'd of course credit where I am getting the data. In case anyone is interested you can follow us on Instagram (@demsabroaditaly @votefromabroad @students.votefromabroad @yourherevotethere).
Kelly, could we do a quick call tomorrow to discuss this? My son Willie is at AUR in Rome so I will do anything you want! LMK a 15 minute window and we can Facetime, Zoom or do a traditional call. Look forward to it - S
Hi again, AUR! How cool is that? We did a big voter registration drive there last fall and registered about 100 students – the students there are super engaged!
I’d love to talk and am free today from 13:00 my time and on into the evening, so just let me know what works for you.
I’m not sure if I should be responding to this as an email, or in the substack comments. It looks like my email bounced so fingers crossed you get this.
Best
Kelly
Sorry, me again. I get all confused with the time difference. Today (Wednesday) I'm free any time from 13 CEST onwards, tomorrow (Thursday) I'm free from 13 CEST until 17 CEST and just in case 'cause I know you're busy, Friday I'm free from 13 CEST onwards.
Have you connected with SWEEP Red Wine & Blue (https://redwine.blue/). As Republicans refer to us 'The Suburban women problem'. There's over 200,000 in the Facebook group. We also want to get loud and counter the negativity of MAGA while having fun. We need economic data to share.