Republicans do this one thing far better than Democrats
Stephen H. Provost
When Donald Trump announced he was running for president, he was an expert in two things: Branding and marketing.
Trump had built his name into one of the nation’s most recognizable brands, and he knew how to market the hell out of even lousy products. He’d learned a lot from televangelists and snake oil salesmen.
Democrats, by contrast, don’t seem to have learned much at all. Whether they’re attempting to brand themselves or demonize their opponents, it never seems to turn out too well.
Socialism and defunding
Democrats have a history of putting their foot in their collective mouth, tying themselves to unpopular brands in their eagerness to make a point.
Dear Bernie Sanders, are you aware that your self-identification as a socialist may have cost you the nomination? Yes, I know you’re a democratic socialist, but that doesn’t matter to people who think socialists and communists are the same thing. I also know that’s not true. But what you and I know doesn’t matter when it comes to messaging. What matters is how the message is received.
You think Joe Biden lost Florida by a lot? Trump would have destroyed you there.
Progressives really shot themselves in the foot with another election-year slogan, too: “Defund the police.” I’m sorry, but even to someone like me who thinks police reform is essential, that sounds like you want to abolish the police force. I know you went around explaining that’s not what you meant. But please get a clue: If you have to explain a message, that means the message didn’t work. The message itself is supposed to do the explaining.
Why not say, “Reform the police” or “Public safety means keeping everyone safe.” Or something like that?
A side note: Some conservatives attacked the message “Black lives matter,” but it was still a positive message, as opposed to “defund the police.” That’s probably why it resonated so much better in society at large.
MAGA vs. BBB
Trump has been criticized for playing only to his base, and he’s done so successfully with slogans like “Build the Wall” and “Lock her Up.” Yet he’s been a lot more successful than Democrats in creating mantras that appeal more broadly, too.
Trump came up with arguably the best political slogan since Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America” when he invited his followers to “Make America Great Again.” It became so deeply ingrained in the nation’s consciousness that everyone knows what MAGA stands for.
Contrast that with Joe Biden’s slogan. Can you even remember what it is? If not, I’ll refresh your memory: It’s “Build Back Better.” Let’s take a moment to dissect this.
MAGA invites people to “make” something, which evokes creativity and possibilities. “Build” implies hard work is necessary — which is absolutely true. But if you’ve ever bought a product you’ve had to assemble (I’m talking to you, IKEA), you know that making sense of the directions and then actually following them is a pain in the neck.
“Again” in MAGA evokes the hopeful idea that, “we’ve done it before, and we can do it again.” Meanwhile, “back” suggests a return trip somewhere. And if you’ve ever gone driving on a day trip, you know that it’s a lot more interesting heading out than heading, well, back. (Contrast this, also, with Reagan’s slogan that suggested morning was already arriving, and Barack Obama’s emphasis on “Hope.”)
“Great” is a lot more inspiring than “better” — unless you mean “better” is better than “great,” but you’ve lost most of your audience by the time you get them there.
Now, I’ll grant you, MAGA doesn’t spell out anything, but it’s got vowels in there, so it’s easy to say. Try to say BBB, and you’ll sound like you’re making baby noises. Besides, BBB already stands for something. If you write it out and show it to someone, they’ll think you’re referring to the Better Business Bureau.
Hope or blame?
Trump is a master of sticking derisive nicknames on his opponents — if you can call such an odious practice “masterful.” One of the few times Democrats tried this (apart from rank-and-file meme-names for Trump) they misfired badly, hitting Trump’s supporters instead of the man himself. They’re still wearing Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” quote like a badge of honor years later.
Perhaps the best slogan the Democrats have come up with in recent years is “the 1 percent,” referring to corporate fat cats. But there’s a disadvantage to that: Everyone wants to be in the 1 percent themselves. They have hope. So demonizing people who might be us someday isn’t exactly a winning strategy.
The more effective strategy is to condemn those below us on the social and/or economic ladder: to appeal to the bigoted “better than” in many of us. This is unacceptable to liberals, and with good reason. It contains the seeds of racism, sexism, and all sorts of other prejudices.
The antidote to this isn’t reviling the 1 percent, but rather — as both Reagan and Obama realized — instilling hope for something better among everyone in the 99 percent.
Alienating allies
The other memorable slogan the Democrats used came in the context of the impeachment process: “No one is above the law.” It would have been an effective slogan, if it had proven true. Unfortunately, Trump proved exactly the opposite: By getting off scot free, he demonstrated that he was, in fact, above the law.
The moral of that story: No one likes a slogan that can be disproven.
And no one likes to be attacked, either. Just ask the “deplorables.”
Potential allies who were (rightly) repelled at the sight of George Floyd’s death were turned off when some Democrats called for defunding the police. White Americans are a lot more likely to push back against racism when it’s framed in terms of equality than when it’s depicted as an attack on their “white privilege.” To put it another way: Appeals to compassion work a lot better than attempts to impose guilt.
Of course, the fact that Trump and Republicans are so adept at messaging and labels tends to obscure the fact that, for the most part, there’s nothing of substance underneath. No answers to the coronavirus pandemic. No new health plan. No infrastructure bill. Just a bunch of empty words.
Democrats have substance to offer — whether you agree with it or not — but their message isn’t hitting home.
And that’s a problem in Tweetamerica.
Featured photo: George Floyd protests in Miami, June 7, 2020, by Mike Shaheen, Creative Commons 2.0 license
