The Challenge of the Democratic Communications Chasm

[Nevilledog]

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Dan Pfeiffer
@danpfeiffer
There is an increasing amount of evidence that the problem is bigger than the Democratic message. It's that the most important parts of our message are being drowned out by Right Wing propaganda and a conflict-obsessed traditional media.

messagebox.substack.com
The Challenge of the Democratic Communications Chasm
Two new polls show that voters would like the Democratic agenda if only they knew about it
11:24 AM · Mar 6, 2022

https://messagebox.substack.com/p/the-democratic-communications-chasm?s=r

Democrats are up against a lot in this upcoming election— history, a lingering pandemic, inflation, and a country in a pretty shitty mood. Add to this House and Senate maps that disproportionately represent Republican voters and it’s a recipe for disaster our party cannot afford.

This has — of course — sparked a vituperative, circular, and perhaps self-defeating debate about messaging. Are Democrats too progressive or not progressive enough? Too populist or not populist enough? Too closely associated with the “Squad” or plagued by corporate-friendly centrists like Sinema and Manchin? I won’t go on. The contours of this argument are all too familiar to anyone who follows politics. Establishment media like Politico and Axios enjoy reveling in and stoking this fight.

It’s safe to say our party hasn’t exactly nailed the message yet. We don’t have a solid story on the economy and lack a consistent narrative about Republicans not named Donald Trump. Figuring those things out is necessary but not sufficient for success in the midterms and beyond. But new polling out this week highlights another problem for the Democratic Party — the communications chasm. Our message is being drowned out by Right Wing propaganda and a conflict-obsessed traditional media. The public isn’t hearing our arguments, they don’t recognize our accomplishments, and they don’t know what we stand for. If they did, Democrats might be in a much stronger position.

The Gap Between Knowledge and Support

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the biggest story in the world. Despite the fact that we are prone to tuning out things happening outside of our borders, the American people are paying very close attention to developments in Ukraine. According to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, 85 percent of Americans say they are “familiar with the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.” Eight in ten Americans engaging with any news story — let alone one happening abroad — is a stunning sight. Across all polling conducted to date, approval of President Biden’s handling of the crisis is mixed. In most polls, a slight majority of Americans disapprove of what he and his administration have done. But — and this is a big but — the dissatisfaction does not arise from a disagreement on the decisions the Biden Administration made or how those decisions were executed. The problem is ignorance. Data for Progress conducted a poll demonstrating the problem. The poll began by asking people whether they approved or disapproved of Biden’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The results were in line with most polls — 45 approve/48 disapprove. Data for Progress followed up with a neutral delineation of the steps that the Biden Administration took. Approval of the response jumped 18 points.

*snip*

[usonian]

1. Let's see what happens to the hate machine

as Russian backers go broke.

I hope that people are tracking the cause and effect here.