A Commentary
by
Terry P. Rodriguez
PCDCC Chair Legislation Committee
In a recent polling of delegates by the California Democratic Party, the number one topic was to find ways to improve messaging of our successes to the electorate. These delegates understood the need to advertise our positive contributions as a party and that we should improve how we do it.
Jackie Calmes, opinion columnist for the Los Angeles Times, stated in a recent article, “Yes, Democrats Have a Messaging Problem…,” that under President Biden’s administration, Democrats have a newsworthy opportunity to showcase this achievement. However, Calmes indicated that while Republicans would call these administration’s economic policies alarmingly inflationary, Democrats could counter with “an Economics 101 lesson.” (Calmes).
In his article in The Guardian, “Attack is the Best Form of Defence (sic): the Golden Rules of Political Campaigning,” Sam Delaney best describes how one side in a campaign can override the successes of their opposition. Delaney indicated the “golden rule of political advertising” is to “…provoke the opposition into a reaction.” In this case Republicans, issuing this warning, baited Democrats to respond with something they can use to further the argument on the disadvantages of the Democratic administration’s economic policy. Republicans have very successfully been engaging Democrats in a war of messaging their positions in order to override the Democrats which Delaney described as “hit first, hit hard, and keep on hitting” (Delaney).
The Democratic Party raised their messaging issue, most notably, in their misuse of the terms “defunding” and “defending” the law enforcement community following the George Floyd incident during the 2020 election, risking this feedback among many others. In his New York Times article, Josiah Bates commented that calls for defunding the police were demanded by “communities where issues of over-policing, gun violence, and systemic racism are most prevalent” (Bates). However, by repeating this demand, the word “defunding” became a Republican political tool to describe Democrats as soft on crime. Using this word, Republicans fight back hard, prolifically using this label to show that Democrats advocate reducing law enforcement‘s capability to provide public safety during times of rising crime rates; that Democrats are soft on crime. This messaging resonates powerfully with their constituents.
How does the Democratic Party respond? The Democrats begin by acknowledging they need to improve their messaging. In this case, they came to a conciliatory message that the Democratic Party supports the law enforcement establishment, while also supporting the needs of those communities as described by Josiah Bates for better public safety social programs. President Biden, in his State of the Union Address stated, “The answer is not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police. Fund them. Fund them.” His messaging came at an appropriate time when support for the alternative was decreasing, and Republicans were pushing hard on their campaign messaging for supporting law enforcement. He had a purpose… to counter the misinformation put forth by his opposition, to set the record straight that this was his position and the position of many Democratic representatives. At the same time, he wanted to message his support to work with communities on their issues. It was also a signal to the Democratic community to carry on this messaging to their electorate (Wootson).
President Biden turned the tables on the Republicans. Democrats are responsible for enacting many laws which protect the public from questionable police actions. The President had struck first on a position supported by the Republicans, hit hard on their support for law and order, and continues to do so even harder.
The lesson to be learned from these comments/discussions….choose your words carefully or you could spend an entire election season trying to take them back.