Circular Firing Squad? No, It's Finally Recognizing The Same Mistakes...

agree (0.00 / 0)

I agree with the sentiment expressed here.  there should be a cold-eyed AAR done on this election cycle.  I'm not sure we'll get one this close to the result; my experience in politics suggests that the emotion tends to get in the way and people make poor snap-judgments.

However, while I prefer to let the dust settle for a minute or six to take the emotion out of the equation NO ONE should stand for any "circling of the wagons" over at Plato.

A lot of things went wrong this year.  Some of them may have been out of our control.  But there are a lot of them that were.  Things happened that people in the DFL, inside and out of Plato Ave., were warned about, and they made different choices.  That's the stuff we really need to talk about and make changes.

---

by: JML @ Thu Nov 04, 2010 at 16:16:42 PM UTC

I know I have said this in other articles (0.00 / 0)

but I believe it bears repeating.  We should have made this election about the direction the state was going rather than the direction the country was going.  Polls have consistently shown that those who thought the country was going in the wrong direction were going to vote Republican.  While those who thought the state was going in the wrong direction were going to vote Democrat.  Therefore, and I have to give credit to Tom Emmers campaign for absconding it albeit much later in the campaign, the message should have been "A New Direction for Minnesota".  That message would have resonated with people and is still a viable message for 2012 since the Republicans will have the legislature.  In fact, it will probably be a more viable message.

---

by: ProgressivesUnite @ Thu Nov 04, 2010 at 16:25:47 PM UTC

Do what's successful (0.00 / 0)

You might not like their policies, but you have to give the Republicans credit for being masters in the field of marketing.  When you consider the policy positions of Republicans and where most people fall on the economic scale, most elections should be going about 90% Democrat and 10% Republican.

But we know that's not the case.  

So how do they do it? They are masters at conveying a compelling message that sticks in people's minds (even if the message is not true).

As has been pointed out, Republicans are masters at soundbites.  Republicans use repeat phrases over and over.  Democrats ask you to pull up a chair and listen to a story.

What was the greatest soundbite of 2010 for the GOP?  I think it was "Job Killing Taxes."  Very effective because so many people are 1) Unemployed, 2) Were recently unemployed, or 3) Worried they will soon be unemployed.

What was the real clunker strategy by a Democrat in 2010.  It was from a candidate who didn't make it out of the primary - Margaret Anderson Kelliher.  

Kelliher waxed poetically about "No stone left unturned." Her ads tried so hard to tell a story.  That theme appealed to the person who has time to curl up on the couch and read a good book.

"Job Killing Taxes, Job Killing Taxes, Job Killing Taxes" appealed to the person who just grabbed a fast food meal through the driveup window to get their kids through rush hour traffic to soccer practice and now just came home wondering how they will find the time to help the kids with homework and still prepare for the presentation at work tomorrow.  

I've read comments from Democrats here who say they can't replicate Republicans.  They are different than Republicans.  Well you should be different in political philosophy, not methodology if that methodology is effective.

So what are sounds bite approaches to try?

Republicans: "Job killing taxes."

Democrats: "Job killing outsourcing."

Republicans: "Cut the size of government."

Democrat: "Cutting services people need."

Just a few ideas to ponder

The Original Gordon

---

by: Gordon @ Thu Nov 04, 2010 at 16:33:12 PM UTC

30 yeas in the making (4.00 / 1)

The Republican/Emmer message is simply an expression of a narrative that Republicans have developed and promoted over the past thirty years-- it is a narrative that tells the story of how an instrusive and burdensome government has sapped American's private economy of its natural vitality and strength.  The Emmer soundbites work because they reference this deeper narrative.

To counter this message, we need a compelling narrative that tells the story of how we actually got into the mess we are in and that offers a vision of how we get out of it-- and it must be a narrative that resonates with what people experience in their own lives.  This narrative needs to be advanced clearly and consistently year in and year out.  It must inform and shape every race that we run.  But even that is not enough-- we actually need to advocate and work for public policies that are consistent with this narrative.

Without such a counter-narrative, we are doomed, regardless of what else we do.

---

by: Joel in Duluth @ Thu Nov 04, 2010 at 16:47:02 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Agree (0.00 / 0)

Well Said!

---

by: LitterBug @ Fri Nov 05, 2010 at 14:58:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You hit the nail on the head (0.00 / 0)

Three and four word sound bites have been proven, study after study, to be most effective for retention in long-term memory.  Don't believe me, then ask why is your phone number a series of 3 and 4 number segments?  Why is your Social Security number a series of 3 and 4 number segments?  

---

by: ProgressivesUnite @ Thu Nov 04, 2010 at 17:20:27 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Changes (0.00 / 0)

First--just so everyone has some context--I'm an alternate to the SCC, I'm a party-unit officer, and I'm a regular volunteer.  With that said, I think I'm somewhat qualified to comment on what should happen next for the DFL.

Walter Mondale wrote in his recent book that when forming the DFL, HHH worked to unite farmers, laborers, intellectuals, and business leaders.  He was successful, and we won the party that exists today.  Frankly, I feel that coalition starting to strain, and a break would be terrible news for Minnesota Democrats.

If we want to create lasting majorities, we have to find a way to accomodate the interests of all DFLers: the social and fiscal liberals, the social liberals/fiscal moderates, the social liberals/fiscal conservatives, the social moderates/fiscal liberals (if there even is such a thing), and so forth.  If one group looks askance at the others, the big-tent approach won't work.

Now I know that will lead to disagreements from time to time, but I think we can all agree that the alternative, GOP control, is just unacceptable.  75% of something is better than 100% of nothing, yet I feel like a lot of groups within the party want to play a zero-sum game, even against other DFLers, if necessary.  

So yes, I would advocate for a party chair from the suburbs.  That's where the elections are won and lost.  The DFL needs to reestablish its influence there, to show the independents and independent-minded that we're not some sort of crazy, socialist fringe group.  We're people that believe in fairness and opportunity.  You want some simple messaging?  You got it right there...the DFL is the party of fairness and opportunity.  Who can be against that?  

 

---

by: adanielch @ Thu Nov 04, 2010 at 18:47:04 PM UTC

"it didn't have to be a wave year here" (0.00 / 0)

Or anywhere, for that matter. "Wave" is a horrible term. It implies "inevitability". The outcome of Tuesday's election was not predestined. The Republicans created that wave with strict party discipline, big money (Citizen's United), media mastery, and a strategic plan created and executed from the top  down. No Central Committee could ever devise such a strategy.

I'm not excusing the DFL party for mistakes or lack of self reflection (if true). However, I will never expect much from a committee. Especially a large committee. Mark Dayton is our leader now. "Tax the rich" is our charge. Any dissenters, within the ranks, should be shot.  

---

by: Farmer Labor @ Thu Nov 04, 2010 at 20:03:34 PM UTC

The party of the common people... (0.00 / 0)

That's what we need to become again. Let populism flower, and tell the environmental purists, bleeding heart liberals, etc. to take a back seat. I'll happily wait for DADT to die and ENDA to pass while we lower unemployment to below 5% and pass the employee free choice and and pass health care for all.

---

by: dyna @ Thu Nov 04, 2010 at 21:01:59 PM UTC

Poison (0.00 / 0)

I'll just repost my reply from another thread, because this argument is pure poison.

Civil rights are not an afterthought. Should we have put off the civil rights fight in the '50s and '60s to tackle economic or foreign policy issues instead? No.

We best gear up for this fight, folks, because it's coming whether we like it or not. The GOP is pretty much guaranteed to put a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in front of voters in 2010. We cannot prevent them from putting it on the ballot (Dayton can't veto this), but we best be prepared to fight that amendment at the ballot box. If one side puts up an argument and we don't, then we lose. That's what's been happening on the national level, and it's shameful.

---

by: MinnesotaBulldog @ Thu Nov 04, 2010 at 21:25:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Marriage is a civil right (0.00 / 0)

not a religious right!  That is the message!  If it wasn't a civil right then people wouldn't be able to be married by Justice's of the Peace.

---

by: ProgressivesUnite @ Fri Nov 05, 2010 at 05:34:19 AM UTC

[ Parent ]