Democrats may be more advanced than Republicans when it comes to message discipline, but that has done nothing to halt the GOP’s nearly decade-long electoral supremacy.
One of the Democrats’ biggest problems is that they stink at presenting a winning message to voters. Even Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has come around to that realization.
“I think if we come up with this strong, bold economic package, it will – it will change things around. That’s what we were missing. People don’t like Trump; he’s at 40 percent. But they say what the heck do the Democrats stand for?” the New York senator said in a recent interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
For the past eight years, former President Barack Obama has been the Democrats’ most visible champion, besting both Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in contentious presidential elections. However, though Democrats enjoyed control of the White House for eight straight years under Obama, his two terms also coincided with a sharp decline in the number of elected offices held by Democrats.
Obama’s party controlled 59 percent of state legislative bodies when he first came into office. In 2017, Democrats control only 31 percent. When Obama first came to the White House, the Democrats boasted of 29 governor’s offices. Fast forward to 2017 and the Democrats now have only 16 governors in office. This is their worst showing since women had the vote in all states.
Democrats also lost control of the House in 2010 in the crushing red wave midterm elections. They lost the Senate later in 2014 in another round of humiliating midterm losses.
Democrats then lost the 2016 presidential election to a historically unpopular GOP candidate. They have also managed to lose all four of the special elections held since President Donald Trump was voted into office.
Though the Democratic Party may be disciplined in terms of presenting a united message, it has lost its way badly in terms of finding a message that works.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., rightly noted after the Democrats’ embarrassing defeat in the incredibly costly special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District that they have a messaging problem. The Badger State congressman also suggested Democrats may need to think about a leadership shakeup.
Though Schumer rejected the latter suggestion, he appeared Sunday to agree with the former.
“Ryan has a point here – we better stand for something and it can’t be baby steps,” Schumer said, adding, “Democrats need a strong, bold, sharp-edged, and common-sense economic agenda. Policy, platform, message that appeal to the middle class. That resonate with the middle class. And show that – and unite Democrats.”
“That’s what I’ve been working on for months,” he added.
