Democratic Messaging for Campaigns [View all]

The Republican party has for too long been on the cutting edge of messaging. Democrats are lagging in getting their messaging out due to lack of messaging that truly speaks to the American people. Americans love freedom. As Democrats, we need to tap into that love for freedom. Republicans have been working hard to repeal freedoms that Americans have long cherished. First Amendment freedoms are under attack in towns and cities across the country. In red states, laws are being drafted which seek to limit the ability of people to speak their minds, express themselves, and associate with whom they wish.

The Republican attempts to ban drag and gay pride parades in Tennessee and Florida, the bans on teaching of certain subjects or saying certain words in public schools and universities, and book bans are all attempts to suppress speech and expression in violation of the constitutional protections of the First Amendment. In Florida, public school teachers have been threatened with felonies if they even have certain books displayed in their classrooms. The extremist agenda of these Republicans needs to be countered with the correct language to get the attention of people and stir up passions of an otherwise apathetic and uniformed public. The messaging outlined below can help Democrats at all levels of government stir up those passions and snap the public out of complacency.

When speaking about Republican bans on certain words or topics in public school and university classrooms use the term Republican thought control. Most Americans abhor having their thoughts controlled. Using such terminology can achieve a sense of disgust in many Americans and help to sway their opinions against such bans.
Referring to Republicans as the “thought police” is another way to sour the public on these policies. When speaking to the press or at events about these bans, say for example, “The Republican Thought Police want to ban talk of slavery in the classroom. They want us to forget the atrocities of the past so they can bring them back today.”

When speaking of Republican book bans, refer to these bans as the Republicans creating a government nanny state which takes responsibility for parenting away from parents and gives it to the government. Republicans have in the past used such language to refer to Democratic initiatives to create healthy eating policies in schools. It can be used to great effect against them on this issue. Independents and moderate Republicans who still believe in the older Republican ideals can be swayed by such language, as well as reinforcing the sentiment among our own ranks.
Highlight the most extremist Republican words in commercials, emails, and other advertisements to emphasize what is at stake.

Democrats everywhere need to emphasize their support of freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and freedom of expression in public spaces everywhere, particularly in classrooms. Stifling in-classroom discussions is a violation of that freedom, especially for students, and can lead to indoctrination.
Expound on the fact that in-classroom speech bans are stifling discussion.

Democrats need to constantly bring up the fact that the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to free expression even when that speech and expression offends some people.
In ads, show Nazis freely marching through the streets of Florida, while drag entertainers are dragged off stage in handcuffs. Ask, “Is this the America you want?”

Republicans in states like Oklahoma and Texas are attempting to push Christian indoctrination in public schools. This can be framed as taking away the rights of parents to teach their children their own religion and allows corrupt government officials to decide in what religion children should be raised. Emphasize that Democrats want to protect separation of church and state in order to protect religious the religious freedom of parents and children.

Emphasize that Democrats care about citizens regardless of political affiliation, emphasizing that we want to protect Social Security for everyone, protect Medicare and Medicaid, while Republicans are actively opposed to these programs no matter what they say, as evidenced by their continuing support and lack of effort to stop Elon Musk and his DOGE program in making rapid and unsupervised changes to these programs.