What Dems need most is a strong, plain coherent message

[TDale313]

That values social and economic justice. It's not an either/or thing. And we need messengers who can deliver that message and be authentic and credible doing it. Goes for all levels, but yes, for whoever ends up getting the nomination next time it's essential. No candidate is perfect, but voters will tolerate a lot of policy differences if they generally trust the messenger and if it feels like there is an actual vision.

[underthematrix]

1. So SOME Democrats are still not getting the message

that voting Republican means no healthcare no clean water no clean air no education no research no abortion no LGTB rights no voter rights, no green economy, no living wage jobs, no infrastructure and on and on.

Damn

[yardwork]

5. Millions of Americans aren't getting that message. We need to change our communication style.

[Bettie]

10. That is one thing we can take from the other side

and mold to our uses.

We need strong, consistent messaging in small, easy to remember phrases and get everyone who ever steps in front of a camera to use the same words, to reinforce it. Over and over so it is something stuck in their heads like an ear worm.

[Doodley]

2. I believe we had that.

[Squinch]

3. I believe we have a GREAT platform and GREAT policies. But I think the OP is right

because I am realizing that few, even here, know what that platform and those policies are.

I love reading that kind of stuff. Maybe you do too, but most people don't. We need something that summarizes for those people what they can expect from us.

This is not a problem with any single Democrat. It's a problem with ALL democratic messaging for many years. Most of the country STILL sees the R's as the party of financial responsibility and fiscal security, and most of the country STILL doesn't understand that the progressive policies in the Democratic platform actually SAVE the taxpayer tons of money and create jobs and opportunities while R policies dependably kill them.

We need a PR team, and a good one.

[Orsino]

6. Oppressing women, minorities, immigrants and poor people sells.

It even appears strong and coherent, alas, to pinheads, and fits on bumper stickers.

Until voters understand that solving problems means work, to many will be lulled by the easy non-answers of the Right.

[Adrahil]

14. I agree....

Trump telles them he can solve problems he can't and most of all, all the problems are the fault of those "other" people.

He just lies.

[TDale313]

12. Thank you. You put it better than I did.

As you said, this isn't about any one Democrat. It's about your average voter who doesn't pay the kind of attention we do being able to say in a few sentences "This is what Dems are about" There already are more of us than there are them. Get past this hurdle and there's so many on board it's really hard to steal because it's no longer being fought in the margins.

[yardwork]

4. I agree. We need to make big promises.

The Democratic Party needs to say to voters:

Everybody will get excellent health care.

Young people will get relief from crushing college debt.

We will raise the minimum wage to a living wage.

We will legalize marijuana.

Those four promises - made over and over in consistent, strong, sound bite terms - will win elections. It's how Trump won.

[L. Coyote]

7. What Dems need most is to be allowed to vote.

And for Republicans to quit cheating at elections.

[TDale313]

9. Yes. True.

[Bettie]

11. Well, there is that

which means winning state elections.

[Achilleaze]

8. Bingo

"21'st Century Fair Deal"

Make it so.

[MineralMan]

13. There is one, already. It's the Democratic Party Platform.

You can read a pdf copy of it here:

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/papers_pdf/117717.pdf

It will be the Party Platform until it is replaced with the 2020 version at the national convention that summer.

[Squinch]

15. No. Average people don't read platforms. We need something, like

"New Deal" or "Fair Deal" or, God help us, "MAGA" to gut punch the voter with the summarized end goal of our platform, and put us in their heads as the ones who stand for them.

I love the platform. It's revolutionary. It solves all the problems that the idiots who voted for Trump(R) say they have, and it does it in a practical way. But even here on DU, there are too many who obviously have never read it.

[MineralMan]

16. Yes. Slogans are good, but serious people go beyond those

and read documents like our Party Platform. I encourage everyone here on DU to do that. We ARE serious people, right? I know that I am. I have read the entire platform, and have a copy on my PC for reference.

I take this stuff seriously.

[Squinch]

17. Yes. Absolutely. WE are serious. But if we learn nothing else from 2016, let's learn that

too many out there are NOT serious, and like it or not, we need them.

[LeftInTX]

19. Sorry, most voters do not

They watch the debates, prime-time parts of the convention, read the paper and watch some cable news. In the end, most go with their guts.

This is how they make their decisions.

[LeftInTX]

20. We can have the best platform in the world, but marketing it is very important.

[LeftInTX]

18. We need to hire more advertisers, marketing people etc.