That Democrats have long suffered from poor messaging is no secret. Every few weeks, it seems, brings a new lament about the failure of the party to persuade voters, even their own, that their programs and their vision are superior to the false promises peddled by Republicans. As Michael Tomasky wrote, “There’s always a lot of grumbling about Democratic messaging, and for good reason: It’s generally pretty bad—defensive and unimaginative.”
One common criticism is that the Democrats’ message is excessively policy-oriented, too dense and too boring for even most party loyalists to care about. Former Republican strategist Mike Murphy noted, “They’re forgetting a lot of voters don’t follow this detailed stuff because they’re busy with their life. Pick a simple thing people understand that’s popular, that’s smaller.”
That some Democratic strategists demur could be part of the problem. In 2022, Vanity Fair featured an article by Dan Pfeiffer, the former Obama communications director, provocatively titled, “Why Do Democrats Suck at Messaging?” The body of the piece belied the title, however. In it, Pfeiffer’s main contention was that Democrats were no worse than Republicans, who “seem to be winning the messaging war in spite of themselves.” As he pointed out, “Kevin McCarthy looks like he just woke up from a nap and can’t figure out where he is or what he is doing. Mitch McConnell, one of the worst communicators in modern political history, sounds like he is reading The Almanac of American Politics with a mouthful of marbles.” He did grudgingly admit, “The right has effectively created a narrative about Democrats and has stuck to it. ‘Make America Great Again’ is one of the most successful political branding efforts in history.”
