Recently the Democratic Party sent out an email survey asking people to vote on sticker designs & presumably a new slogan for the party. The choices were objectively awful:
In particular, “She Persisted, We Resisted” brings to mind HRC’s failed presidential campaign, something you’d think the party would want to move past. It’s also bizarre that “She Persisted” is the title of Chelsea Clinton’s new book, so I have to wonder what exactly these people are tying to accomplish. Besides that, the major problem with each slogan is that they are all reactive, not proactive. Thankfully they were rightly mocked by all sides of the political spectrum, and even the NRCC got in a good dig (Democrats 2018: We Win Moral Victories, Not Elections).
Which makes me wonder, what would be the Democrats’ version of MAGA? Just a rallying cry that encompasses the party’s positions & hopefully sell a lot of hats? “Hope & Change” sounds laughably naive in retrospect, & “Stronger Together” & “I’m With Her” are fine platitudes but were even more useless in communicating Democratic policies.
Or do you think the slogan ideas the party was floating in the email survey were decent? Are they capable of taking back the house with a rallying cry like “Democrats 2018: I Mean, Have You Seen the Other Guys?”
Doesn’t matter a whit how it sounds in retrospect. It was money at the time. Inspirational and memorable; it’s that message that got him elected. Just like MAGA worked in 2016.
A good message needs to be inspirational, memorable and capable of building a campaign around-- to grow into stump speeches, talking points, etc. Getting too specific on an issue isn’t good for a message. Being forgettable isn’t good. Being too long isn’t good. Being cryptic or unclear is horrible.
I don’t know what that is for 2018 and 2020, but I hear the Dems are floating “A better deal” right now. I’m pretty sure that’s not “it.”
I like “A Better Deal.” It brings to mind a kind of old-school liberalism, & would reassure voters that yes, the party does actually care about economic issues.
It’s not PC but the Democrats, like it or not, need more testosterone. They can be white male macho and yet still balance that with respect for minorities, LGBT, and feminism – those can coexist. They can also be friendly to business while simultaneously being friendly to the middle and lower classes.
“Justice for all.” It’s got that whiff of patriotism, so just try making fun of it, with roots in lefty politics. It could be used in different contexts-- justice for the working mom, justice for Philando, justice for the factory worker, justice for the retiree fighting to make ends meet, justice for our vets, justice for the kid born with pre-existing conditions, justice for the immigrant.
The progressive & labor wing could incorporate “No justice, no peace” into the campaign and bring some teeth to the fight.
And it’s vague enough that people would be able to read into it whatever motivates them. I think a lot of people feel like they’re not getting a fair shake-- like other people are getting advantages in life, at work, economically, politically, institutionally, in the justice system, etc.-- so the theme of justice could be tailored in a way to address specific audiences or large swaths of people. You don’t want it focused too much on the middle class, or whites, or blue collar workers, or progressives, etc. But hearing someone say “You deserve justice” could scratch an itch for almost anyone that hears it.
It could have some bite to it, but doesn’t necessarily attack anyone in specific, because almost everyone at some point has felt institutionally slighted.
And after the childish shitshow that we’ll have endured, it has a grown-up air about it. Plus it also has the potential to stir emotions-- 10,000 people at a campaign rally chanting “Justice!” could be a powerful tool.
The first thing a lot of people who hear “Justice For All” are going to think of is the much-hated SJW stereotype. I can already imagine the jokey memes flooding twitter, reddit & facebook.
Yeah those stickers are awful. It’s not easy to make a slogan worse than “I’m with her” but “She Persisted, We Resisted” just might be it. Democrats really need to get out of their whiny,defensive crouch and articulate a hopeful vision like Obama did in 2008 and Clinton in 1992.