I'm getting tired of the wording of this Dem pol message

[BaronChocula]

"But we have more work to do"

Just heard Jared Polis utter it on The Last Word. It's a worn out scripted Democratic party line that evolved from Bill Clinton's 1992 message "I feel your pain." Clinton's message was appropriate. He was running against an incumbent, GHW Bush whose negatives were fueled by the dug-in notion that Bush was out of touch. The country was crawling out of recession and Clinton's tone of empathy was the right note at the right time for a challenger. Messages of empathy are always political gold, but somewhere along the line "but we have more work to do" became the throw-away line to prove that Democrats understand that you might not be feeling great and you want more. We get it.

But Ronald Reagan didn't win reelection following a massive recession by saying "but we have more work to do." He didn't cater to people's misconceptions of the current recovery. Reagan ran on repeating what was happening. He ran on "It's morning in America."

Every time Democrats have repeated "but there's more work to do" it was actually "morning in America." What's the difference? "But there's more work to be done" dilutes the message of success. it shuts down the celebration before before the suggestion of a celebration can even set in. There's nothing wrong with leading with a positive message if you have a positive message to share.

And you can STILL demonstrate empathy, and here's a suggestion: Instead of saying "BUT we have more to do," simply change the message to "AND that's not all, this is what we can look forward too."

It's a simple rule in the art of improv. Good improv partners say "yes, and" instead of "no, but." It moves the story along.

After all this, maybe I'm just hung up on a style preference, but I think it would make all the difference in the world.

[Bluethroughu]

1. I 100% agree.

"We have more where that came from".

▪︎Stock market record highs
▪︎Unemployment record lows
▪︎Income highest gains in 40 years, and more
Unionization!
▪︎Job opportunities for all
▪︎Mass infrastructure being accomplished
after decades of rot.

"This Country will move at high speed from the 21st century, with the Democratic plan executed with Democratic super majorities, and leave the Republican'ts behind".

[DemocraticPatriot]

2. President Joe should continue blaming inflation on GQP corporate greed---

that is a message that polls show was resonating outside of the Democratic party....

[Silent3]

3. Even though I understand the impulse to show empathy for those who aren't reaping the benefits...

...of an improving economy, you're right. This "more work to do" caveat has always struck me as a downer.

There's got to be a better way to taut Democratic achievements without being insensitive to those left out.

[Orrex]

4. By and large, Dems have sucked at messaging for as long as I've been politically conscious

Repubs spit out three-second soundbytes tailor-made to repeat 1,000 times a day on every news channel looking to fill time, and they're happy to air the Repub bullshit again and again.

Democrats issue three-paragraph statements with footnotes and cross-references and vague allusions to previous three-paragraphs statements, and in the end you might see an excerpt on the new or, more likely, they'll run a silent clip of the Dem talking while the commentator talks about how bad this is for the Democrats.

[BaronChocula]

5. Amen!

I've been saying that for years. Granted, goppers have had an easier go at with their aged "just scare enough white folks" tactics. But messaging is an art to which the Democrats have simply given perfunctory whacks. I'm going out on a strong looking limb and saying that Democrats spent so many years on defense during the macho Reagan/Bush era that they became somewhat demoralized in the messaging department. They became accustomed to messaging from a point of weakness instead of strength. I look at clips of FDR mocking Republicans and I ask "WTF happened."

I think a lot of it was white Democrats trying to win back "Reagan Democrats" by trying not to sound too liberal.

And just one more point... (sometimes I just get started) Even in the 2020 election, we had Democrats like Pete Buttigeig and Amy Klobuchar, both people I hold in high esteem running in the PRIMARY as candidates who could appeal to Trump voters. It was mind-boggling to me. Here was their chance to get the affection of the party's base and they took the opportunity to brag about how they could get Trumpers. Things really turned around when Biden locked up South Carolina at the hand of James Clyburn. Even Amy Klobuchar came out and said that Joe Biden's pick for a VP should be a woman of color. That's a long cry from "I can appeal to Trumpers." I think Democrats are learning slowly.

[betsuni]

6. Has to be said because of whining that Democrats don't know the things they

barely manage to pass with compromise and without large majorities, having to deal with Joe Liebermans and Joe Manchins who have a veto, few to no bipartisan votes, aren't perfect. Whining it's not enough, shouldn't rest on laurels, the idea that if one looks away for one second Democrats will turn into Republicans because they're the same. It's stupid but really has to be said.

[BaronChocula]

9. It's all in how it's said

Never say "but" when discussing your successes. Say "and here's what what else we're going to do."

[pfitz59]

7. whiny 'small d' plaint

time to puff out our chests and say 'yeah, we did that!'

[treestar]

8. Trying to head off the

“Not good enough” crowd, which will always point to a lack.