The Republicans’ easier-to-use megaphone
In the many differing analyses of the 2024 elections undertaken both by political professionals and amateurs, there appears to be one area of agreement: the Republicans cleaned the Democrats’ clock when it came to communication. There are numerous reasons for this messaging imbalance, and we have discussed them in the past. They include, as a prime example, the Republicans’ vast media machine consisting of Fox “News,” the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, popular podcasts such as the Joe Rogan Experience, social media platforms such as Twitter (now known as X), terrestrial radio networks like Sinclair, etc.
However, one communications advantage the Republicans have that doesn’t often get discussed is that the Republicans’ job is just easier than that of the Democrats. After the jump, we present some reasons why that is the case:
First, Democrats care about the truth, while the Republicans do not. That stark difference could be seen, for example, during President Joe Biden‘s debate against Donald Trump last June, where Trump told lie after lie, after requiring that debate host network CNN not do live fact-checking.
Second, Republican voters seem happy to vote against their self-interests. This year, for example, they voted for Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs, even though, as Vice President Kamala Harris explained, those are essentially a national sales tax that could cost the average American family thousands of dollars per year. Likewise, the Republican base seems to favor Trump’s planned deportations, even though doing so will likely raise the price of produce and other groceries (which we were told was a big issue in the elections). The Republicans also want to cut or eliminate Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, veterans’ health benefits, emergency management, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and so many other things that are crucial to the well-being of Republicans and Democrats alike.
Democratic voters, on the other hand, typically support Democratic candidates because such candidates focus on things that will help those voters and the people they care about. In addition to the items mentioned above, the Democrats support a clean environment, renewable energy, climate change prevention, worker and food health and safety, fair taxation, commonsense gun safety laws, reasonable antitrust and other business requirements, good roads and bridges, and more. It’s harder for Democratic candidates to promise these things and be held to account to deliver them.
Third, Republican voters (and the mainstream media) are too easily distracted and enthralled by divisive “Culture War” attacks on others (transsexuals and the LGBTQ community, immigrants, etc.) to notice that they are being ripped off and indeed harmed by Republican politicians. As President B. Lyndon Johnson once said:
If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.
As always, the question becomes, what can Democrats do to compete against this Republican machine that way over-performs in elections compared to the popularity of the respective parties’ positions? One thing the Democrats are not going to do is lie to the voters. But two answers that come to mind are: (1) Democrats must purchase or build their own communications platforms to compete with the popular Republican platforms of the type mentioned above; and (2) Democratic officials, candidates and media influencers must learn to speak in the very simple language that, for better or worse, the voters prefer today.
Photo by Tim Reckmann, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/9mxIb4
