Democrats need to do more...

[Caliman73]

36. They are actually conservative.

What they claim as their planks and values, as you said,

personal responsibility. Or the party of family. Or the party of God. Or the party of fiscal responsibility. Or the party of rule of law.

is just window dressing.

At the core of conservative ideology is the belief in a natural hierarchy within society that is based, according to those conservatives, on "the best being in charge". The best according to conservatives are Wealthy, White, Christian (Protestant typically), Men. That is their ideology. It is the same ideology that was used to support Monarchy in the 17th and 18th Centuries. As Monarchy faded as a viable system of government, the proponents of conservative ideology had to find a new class or "betters" to lead. They focused on the Wealthy, because the wealthy were typically, already the aristocracy and the merchants who controlled most of the economy. Obviously they are the most "gifted".

Rules and laws, according to conservatives, do not apply to those in power. Those in power, by there wealth, show that they are able to transcend the need for behavior control.

That said, you are entirely correct about Democrats needing to be MUCH better at framing the narrative. The slight problem we face is that most of the media is controlled by the very Wealthy people we are hoping to depose as the dominant members of society. They control much of the access to "the masses".