The video above is the latest example demonstrating that U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is the Democrats’ communications rock star, and the conscience — or what should be the conscience — of the Democratic Party. Here, Warren does everything right when introducing her new bill to give students the same rate on their loans as banks get from the Federal Reserve:
–Warren gives her bill a catchy and positive name, the “Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act.” In introducing the bill, Warren says, “let’s bank on students.” She then repeats this phrase, following Messaging Maxim #2.
–Warren uses very simple language at all times. For example, she lays out the problem that “on July 1, the interest rate on new federally subsidized student loans is set to double” and “today’s graduates carry more than one trillion dollars in debt, more than all the outstanding credit card debt in the whole country.”
–Warren clearly explains the benefits of her bill, asserting that educated students help America “build a strong and competitive economy” and “strengthen our middle class.”
–Warren draws an effective comparison between students and banks. She explains that banks can get a loan from the federal government at a discounted rate of just .75%, but this summer, “the federal government’s going to charge [students] interest rates nine times higher than the rates they charge the biggest banks.”
–Then Warren follows Messaging Maxim #1 and goes on offense by adding that the big banks who get such sweet discount loans from the federal government are “the same banks that destroyed millions of jobs and nearly broke the economy.” It’s nearly enough to turn some Republicans into Democrats.
Elizabeth Warren made her political reputation, fittingly, with one of the best off-the-cuff Democratic and progressive arguments in recent memory. Warren has continued her effective communication on the Senate Banking Committee, where she recently said about the banks: “too big to fail has become too big for trial.” Senator Warren is indeed a Democratic role model, both as to the policies she espouses and the manner in which she espouses them.
