The courtroom of public opinion
Re-watching the 1995 O.J. Simpson murder trial is quite jarring. Perhaps most maddening is that the prosecution seemed to have a strong case, and blew it with a poor presentation. For example, co-lead prosecutor Marcia Clark‘s questioning of her own witness, Kato Kaelin, was seen as inept, often harsh, and repetitive. Indeed, the questioning of Kaelin was so bumbling that, a week after it began, Clark had to have Kaelin declared a hostile witness. Simpson’s defense attorneys, in contrast, were dynamic and persuasive, constantly outperforming the prosecutors. They spoke plainly (“if it does not fit, you must acquit.”) They did not lose their cool, in comparison to Clark’s frequent displays of frustration and even desperation. They also distracted jurors with conspiracy theories such as racist cops planting evidence. As we know, Simpson was found not guilty in his criminal murder trial.
The Democratic Party, including President Joe Biden, his White House staff and Cabinet officers, Democratic members of Congress and others, could learn from the O.J. Simpson murder trial. The Democrats have done many good things during Biden’s less than 11 months in office, that they should be shouting about from the rooftops. For example, the 2020 Donald Trump recession is over due to the American Rescue Plan. COVID vaccinations are up (and corresponding COVID cases and deaths are down), which has also boosted the economy. As a result, unemployment is down, and jobless claims are down to a pandemic-era low. Congress has passed the bipartisan Infrastructure bill as Biden promised, Biden provided leadership in the fight against climate change at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, and more.
But in perusing the mainstream media, one gets the impression that Biden and the Democrats are doing a lousy job, are facing numerous “crises,” and are in “disarray.” Republicans (amplified by the media) are talking about inflation, gasoline prices, Critical Race Theory, Afghanistan, and other subjects, real or imagined, where the Republicans think President Biden and the Democrats are vulnerable. This raises the question: Why is there such a disconnect between the reality and the impression for the Democrats, similar to what happened to the prosecution in the O.J. Simpson murder trial?
Here are some possible answers: First, like the Simpson defense team, Republicans are effectively throwing up smokescreens, shiny object distractions, and simple, repeated talking points in order to stymie the Democrats. This is something the Republicans have been doing for decades, and they’re great at it. Second, Republicans are getting a assist from the mainstream media, who, if not outright biased toward the GOP, at best seem to need spoon-feeding instead of doing the difficult job of reporting serious issues. Thus far, Republicans are better at feeding applesauce to the press.
This is not to say that President Biden and the Democrats never try to publicize their successes. The White House has a communications operation including a Press Secretary, a Rapid Response Director, etc. And even President Biden himself, as well as his Chief of Staff Ronald Klain, use Twitter regularly to tout their achievements. Here is a recent example from each of them:
Last week, we took a monumental step forward as a nation.
Not only did we learn that our economy has created 5.6 million jobs since I took office and reached an unemployment rate of 4.6%.
We also did something long overdue: passed my Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.
— President Biden (@POTUS) November 10, 2021
The jobs recovery — from Trump's jobs disaster — has been stunning this year:https://t.co/RS5GMngt8z
— Jeff Zients (@WHCOS) November 10, 2021
However, there is plenty of room for improvement in the Democratic media strategy, including trying harder to get their message across on TV news. As we have been talking about for more than 10 years, Democrats should take some pointers from the Republicans, and similarly, from the O.J. Simpson murder trial defense team (minus the conspiracy theories). At minimum, that means:
—Pick a limited number of subjects. Modern life is very complex, but if we bombard voters with too many issues at once, they will be overwhelmed and might get depressed to the point of apathy. Discuss only one or a few issues at a time, and choose visceral ones.
—Hammer these subjects with the media. That can mean, for example, sending Cabinet secretaries to the major TV news networks for interviews, as well as holding press conferences, and coach those officials to stick with well-written talking points. “Media” also includes social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.
—Keep it stupidly simple. Don’t use the biggest words. Don’t use the longest paragraphs. When it comes to educating American voters, you’re teaching grade school students, not doctoral candidates.
–Create major Democratic media platforms. Republicans have Fox “News,” The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, NewsMax, OANN TV, Red State, the Daily Caller, right wing talk radio, and more. What unabashedly liberal media do Democrats have? It’s time to create more of them, or else no amount of good work by the Democrats (or dirty tricks by the Republicans to stop it) will be widely and accurately reported to the voters.
Basically, when your side should be winning but gives the impression of losing, it’s time to change the approach. The 2022 midterm elections are coming soon, and Democrats need to improve their presentation now, to avoid a result as unjust as the O.J. Simpson verdict.
Photo by Robert Couse-Baker, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/oPtaJF
