Forget the 2024 autopsies. Democrats need to be bold -- and ruthless [View all]

Forget the 2024 autopsies. Democrats need to be bold — and ruthless
To win against Trump and MAGA, the party must rebrand with an inspiring narrative and strong ideas

By Chauncey DeVega
Senior Writer
Published July 31, 2025 6:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) ....(snip)....

As the shock has worn off following former Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump in November, and Trump’s inauguration in January, disillusioned Democrats have been searching for someone or something — anyone or anything — to solve their entrenched messaging and branding failures. Some have even called on former President Barack Obama to fill the void by speaking out forcefully and consistently against Trump. (For his part, Obama has urged Democrats to stop “navel-gazing” and “toughen up.”) Their fruitless search for a solution has revealed a party not just in disarray, but in denial. A recent poll by the Wall Street Journal found only 33% of voters hold a favorable view of Democrats, with 63% expressing an unfavorable view of the party — the most unpopular Democrats have been in 35 years of WSJ polling.

....(snip)....

Democrats seem to be swerving the hard questions altogether, focusing instead on an effort by big money donors and the consultant class to develop a progressive alternative to MAGA’s online recruitment machine of podcasters, YouTube stars and other influencers, which the New York Times aptly described as “throw[ing] money at a problem.” They are desperate to discover or manufacture a political miracle weapon in the form of their own Joe Rogan and his millions of followers.

....(snip)....

Part of the issue, according to Reece Peck, a communications scholar and author of “Fox Populism: Branding Conservatism as Working Class,” comes down to divergent social identities and language. He described Democrats as being centered on upper middle-class “hyper-educationed Americans” who “place immense value on language.”

“The fatal flaw is that Democrats often assume this class-specific cultural fixation is widely shared across the broader electorate,” Peck said. “In contrast, working-class Americans tend to approach language more contextually. They often interpret statements in good faith and prioritize the intention behind a message more than the exact wording — unlike many in the professional class, who insist that intention is irrelevant.”

....(snip)....

In politics, this means distilling a complex message into something emotional that has a direct connection to a person or group. This is especially critical given how political scientists and other experts have consistently shown that the average American is imagistic, easily distracted and manipulated, lacks an in-depth understanding of public policy and history, and has a hard time distinguishing between facts and mistruths. ...............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/07/31/__trashed-7/