Joe Biden, the anti-Trump on Coronavirus and everything else
Now that Bernie Sanders has withdrawn from the Democratic Party presidential nomination contest to leave Joe Biden as the presumptive nominee, the 2020 general election against Donald Trump has begun in earnest. One way or the other, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) will be the overarching issue in this year’s elections. The performance and behavior of Trump and Republican elected officials presents many lines of attack for the Democrats, as well as opportunities to show off their Democratic Party values. Two such lines of attack especially come to mind:
I had the opportunity to speak to former Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson of Florida recently, and asked him about political messaging, something for which Grayson is very well known. Grayson’s most famous speech, the one that put him on the political map, is the one shown in the video above, from the floor of the House of Representatives during the height of the debate over President Obama’s Affordable Care Act in September 2009. In his speech, Grayson said:
It’s my duty and pride tonight to be able to announce exactly what the Republicans plan to do for health care in America… It’s a very simple plan. Here it is. The Republicans’ health care plan for America: “don’t get sick….” If you have insurance don’t get sick, if you don’t have insurance, don’t get sick; if you’re sick, don’t get sick. Just don’t get sick.… If you get sick America, the Republican health care plan is this: “die quickly.”
When it comes to political communication, former (and would-be once again) U.S. House Representative Alan Grayson of Florida gets it. Not only does he come up with simple and dramatic language in his own communications (who can forget his description of the Republican health care plan as “don’t get sick” and “if you do get sick, die quickly”?), but now he’s shining a much-needed spotlight on the Republican messaging machine, and its guru Frank Luntz.
In a recent Huffington Post piece, Grayson took aim at Luntz and the Republicans for their use of the phony term “job creators” to describe large U.S. corporations which have been eliminating jobs in America and creating them in China, India, and other foreign countries. Grayson points out that “job creators”, as well as other oft-repeated fake and misleading Republican phrases such as “death tax”, “energy exploration”, “climate change”, and “government takeover” are nothing short of propaganda.
Whether or not Alan Grayson makes it back to the U.S. House of Representatives, it’s a sure bet that he will continue to employ his sharp communications skills and his ability to point out Republican propaganda wherever he hears it.
