Elections are won on platforms and message

posted by Armchair President on July 30, 2024 - 7:21pm

Current Score: 3

To borrow a line from James Carville, “It is message stupid.” Okay, I know when James said it, it was the economy, but what is really lacking now is message. The Republicans have reduced the Democratic party – a party of ideas, a party that championed Social Security, the Civil Rights Movement, peace and education – to weak, un-American, anti-Christian, and the worst of the worst, liberals.
Why? Because they have failed time and time again to create a message that was strong enough to support their ideas and when someone does take a stand, like Representative Murtha, the party crumbled around him.
A strong platform and message gives its party backbone. It gives the party an agenda to galvanize around and to work toward. A strong platform and message provides identity for those run for office and for those who vote for the party’s candidates. Without a platform or a message a party is simply a group of politicians who will say anything to in a desperate attempt to cling to their jobs.

What is the message of Unity08? What is the platform? Simply stating we want to change things is not enough. What do you believe? “In our opinion, Crucial Issues include: Global terrorism, our national debt, our dependence on foreign oil, the emergence of India and China as strategic competitors and/or allies, nuclear proliferation, global climate change, the corruption of Washington’s lobbying system, the education of our young, the health care of all, and the disappearance of the American Dream for so many of our people.” Okay this is a starting point but what about global terrorism? What about the national debt? What is the party’s plan for making America safe? How does the party plan to reduce the debt?
You need a communication plan that lays out clearly and succinctly what your party stands for and how the party plans to create change. Without this, you might as well be the Dems or Move On.org.

pass it on

Comments

Movements need message/platform too

Armchair President on July 31, 2024 - 7:46am

One of the primary reasons the conservative movement has been so successful in overtaking the Republican party is because it has a distinct set of core values defined by a group of core thinkers. These core values are backed by books, seminars, talking points, meet ups, etc.

The idea that a movement can coalesce around a disparate group of candidates who only share the label moderate, in my opinion, dooms this effort to failure from the start.

In my political experience message comes from party, handlers, and advisers and rarely from the candidate themselves. Who are these moderates and where have they been hiding? Will Unity08 simply identify existing politicians and endorse them? If so, what will the endorsement be based on? Is there some scale of moderatenss that has been developed. Or, maybe if Unity08 had a clearly defined message and platform it could see if a particular candidate embraced the core values of Unity08. If this isn't a goal of Unity08 then what is the point?

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You are not 'on message' AP

bill713again on July 31, 2024 - 5:44am

If U08 were an established party, like the one you mourn, your assesment would be correct. At present that is not the stated scope of U08. Considering the broad innovation of the U08 concept, U08 could very well set out very general guidelines of moderate candidates and let the candidates offer their platform and running mate as the package the e-deligates will consider for their vote.

A slate of moderates would inherently have some point or other of difference between them.
I think that is fine even if everyone of them had some point I would see differently. But without that level of tolerance one could hardly be moderate.

Any single candidates package will be more focused, messaged, and together than the electorate of U08 or the nation as a whole will ever be. I'll go with this experiment as far as the movement will go as long as it is true to the objectives of moderating political behavior in this country.

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