It's time to revive the Democratic brand

Because we can do better.

The Democratic party has a brand problem: that is to say…there is no brand to speak of. Policies? We’ve got those. Slogans, sure. But what is the story Democrats are telling? What values are imbued in that story? Who are our people? What is our culture? What do we care about most? What vision are we striving for? It’s…hard to say.

I have worked in politics and public engagement for fifteen years. I began my career as an organizer on Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, and have since worked with dozens of causes and candidates up and down the ballot. After the 2016 election, I co-founded Arena, an organization that trains and supports the next generation of progressive political leaders. And in the last three years, working as a survey researcher and messaging strategist, I led a team to pore over hundreds of thousands of open-ended survey responses aimed at understanding American voters’ views and the psychological undercurrents that shape their attitudes and emotions.

Time and time again, I have watched as many Democrats repeat the same mistakes, present the same false choices, rely on outdated conventions, and avoid the hard work of piloting a different way. But with the recent launch of Biden’s re-election campaign (and launch video reclaiming the core value of freedom), I saw the glimmer of a new approach, and more strategic thinking. I am optimistic that we can continue to build on this momentum. Because I know Democrats, and I know we can do better. We have to.

Here are ten ideas I believe we must embrace to revive the Democratic brand and strengthen our movement.

1. More leaders, fewer politicians.

This is what voters want, and it is particularly true of those who we consider “swing voters.” While swing voters are actually a very ideologically heterogeneous group (only about half of conflicted voters self-identify as “moderates”), the one thing they seem to have in common is a disdain for power-hungry politicians who are placing their own interests before those of the American people. While they differ in how passionately they hold this view (some are more hostile, others are more passive), it is a common thread among those who say they are “undecided” or have “mixed feelings” about how they will vote.

Partisan identity is declining: that is to say, while most voters are loyal to a party in terms of their voting behavior, many are identifying less and less with the party itself. This is particularly true of young people. When we probe into how closely Democratic voters identify with the party, we find that an increasing number prefer to say they “vote Democrat” rather than declare themselves “a Democrat.”

When we ask voters what they want from their elected officials, they overwhelmingly tell us they want leaders who care about people, who will protect their freedoms, and who will make it easier for most people to get by. They want leaders who are focused on impact and results. They want public servants.

If these things sound basic, it’s because they are. The fact that these attributes are viewed as so rare in those who hold public office speaks to how toxic our political culture has become in the eyes of so many Americans. The single greatest point of contrast I’ve seen in the data on perceptions of Democrats and Republicans is the belief that Democrats actually care about all of us. It’s time to double down on that distinction.

2. Moderation of tone, not policy. Results, but not necessarily bipartisan ones.

In survey after survey, voters tell us that they are turned off by partisan attacks. As each party focuses on the other, the focus is drawn away from the actual issues at hand. And all too often, Democrats lose the moral high ground because they get emotionally hijacked and decide to spend all of their air time telling voters why Republicans are bad. Instead, they could be telling a story about the values that guide us, the future we might have, the course of action we must take to get there, and the impact it will have on the American people (and then why Republicans are bad). 

The voters who decide elections want results. They want action. They want our leaders to get shit done. They don’t want distractions. But…they also don’t want bipartisanship as an end in and of itself. Rather, most voters view bipartisanship as a necessary vehicle for passing policy and delivering impact. 

The American people want their elected leaders to stop wasting time fighting with each other, and to instead redirect their energy toward creating and implementing solutions. But how they get to those solutions is less of a concern than getting to them at all. Voters care about outcomes. They care about the people of our country putting their differences aside and coming together around common values. However, it’s important to remember that unity among the American people is not the same thing as bipartisanship in Congress. 

The American people are already very unified on a great number of policies that are antithetical to those which we know to earn the bipartisan label. To name a few examples: an overwhelming majority (over 80%) of American voters support national standards to protect voting rights, universal background checks to prevent gun violence, paid family leave, and restoring the child tax credit, and a strong majority (over 65%) support protecting reproductive freedom and banning assault weapons. Moreover, these policies aren’t just popular, they’re also important to voters. Plenty of policies have widespread support because they are inoffensive — new roads and bridges, more jobs, manufacturing in America? Great. Good stuff. Who doesn’t love infrastructure? But that is not the case here — these policies tackle some of our biggest and most pressing challenges and represent meaningful changes to the status quo. These policies are not only popular, they are urgent. And yet, these same Democratic policies are often seen as divisive in the context of Congress, offensive even.

American voters want their elected leaders to act on the things the people already agree on. Democrats need to remind Americans that they are on their side not because they are attempting “bipartisan solutions,” but because they are doing whatever they can to get to the solutions that are commensurate with the size of the challenges we face together.

3. Reject the false choice of Turnout v. Persuasion. 

We must stop framing the choice between investing in turnout or persuasion as mutually exclusive, especially as the data has begun to show us that it’s not just “likely voters” and “moderates” who swing elections. We need to make the case for voting for our candidates, but we also need to make a more compelling case that voting is an important and worthwhile action to take in the first place.

Any analyst can tell you that Democrats lose countless elections simply because too many potential supporters — voters who are aligned with the policy positions Democrats hold — choose to stay home. Those who pay attention to the targeting approach of Democratic campaigns know that campaigns get accused of taking votes for granted all the time, because of how narrowly they tend to target voters for the campaign to engage. And with limited resources and limited time to engage voters, targeting is necessary. We simply don’t have time to talk to everyone. But we must stop using that reality as an excuse to over-simplify our approach.

People are more than data points and modeling scores. They contain multitudes. Many of the voters we would typically assign to a “turnout” bucket also need to be persuaded. That may be inconvenient when it comes to how we target, how we invest finite time, and how we distribute limited resources, but it’s a truth we have to accept and account for, all the same. That means we need to cast a wider net, engage a greater number of voters, and have higher quality conversations.

The question shouldn’t be, “should we do persuasion or turnout?” The question should be,“how do we raise more money so we can do both, and do both better?” We need to be talking to a greater number of people, in a more nuanced way that speaks to the complexity of their lived experiences and psychological landscapes.  This is about winning elections but it’s also about not taking voters for granted. When we make assumptions that certain voters do not require or are not worth our engagement, we lose a critical opportunity to strengthen the Democratic brand and grow the party.

4. Fight disillusionment, not apathy. 

Many observe our voter turnout numbers in America hovering around 60% of the eligible population (in Presidential elections), and proclaim non-voters “apathetic.” This misguided narrative is particularly prevalent when it comes to young voters. But that’s a big assumption that the data simply doesn’t corroborate. When we ask non-voters why they didn’t vote, we tend to hear one of three things: Either they “didn’t have enough information to be confident voting,” they “didn’t think their vote could make a difference,” or they “encountered barriers in the process” (such as far away polling locations, getting childcare, or taking time off work so they could go to the polls). 

The problem isn’t that people don’t care. The problem is systemic voter suppression. The problem is campaigns only engaging a narrow slice of the electorate and dismissing the voters deemed “unlikely.” The problem is that people have watched a broken system fail to deliver solutions to persisting and daunting challenges that affect their everyday lives, and they’re not sure that their vote can change that. 

We don’t need to convince people to care. We need to convince people that they have agency, and their vote will matter. We need to remove systemic barriers to voting. And we need to inspire voters to believe that voting is worth it because the leaders they might elect could meaningfully change things for the better (see point 1).

5. Lead with the positive vision of the future we are fighting for. 

There are many in our party who think the only pathway to victory is to focus on the opposition. And who can blame them? The Republican party has served up plenty of villains, and the fascist, authoritarian movement that is growing within the GOP poses an existential threat to our democracy. Voters absolutely need to understand how real and serious that threat truly is. And our political culture has made it all too appealing to “look away.” 

It’s important to be clear about the choice voters face. It’s crucial to paint the contrast. But we must also have a complete story to tell: one that includes a version of the world we are fighting for.

Democrats can and must do more than make the implicit argument that we are “better than the other guys.” It’s not enough to make clear what we are fighting against, to establish a common enemy, especially when voters feel they know that enemy already. Political scientists know this. Voters have a pretty good understanding of what Democrats are against, but ask them to describe Democrats’ vision, and things suddenly become…a lot less clear. We need to start with our vision, our values, the policy outcomes we are fighting for as extensions of those values, and then frame the choice for voters. 

Remember: voters want leaders, not politicians. Politicians focus on their opponents. Leaders stretch the limits of our imagination and inspire us to take action for the world that could be. 

6. Name priorities. Having a vision requires it.

The Democratic party is a diverse one: demographically, socially, and ideologically. I think it’s one of our greatest strengths. Unfortunately, it can also make it more difficult for our party to come together around a shared vision. Too often, we have tried to solve for that by messaging on a potpourri of policy positions. To be clear, I’m not saying that the party shouldn’t have positions in all areas of policy (it obviously should).

What I am saying is that when we stand in front of the country and consistently talk about 14 separate issues, it dilutes the effects of our messaging and signals that we do not have priorities.

Can you recite the top three priorities for the Democratic party? Neither can I.

What if we start by looking at voters’ priorities? Polling data has consistently told us there is widespread desire across the ideological spectrum for meaningful action on economic well being, healthcare, and gun violence. Polling also tells us that there is widespread desire for a future in which all people in our country have equal rights and freedoms, irrespective of their race, gender, income, zip code, or background (shout out to The Race Class Narrative, We Make the Future, and ASO Communications). A majority of American voters want a world where everyone can thrive…but right now many are focused on basic survival: the ability to make ends meet, to care for their families, to be safe from violence, and to make personal decisions about their future. 

What if we’ve been overcomplicating all this? What if we started with the basics? Maybe, in this moment, we don’t need to choose between that which is popular and that which is urgent. 

7. To fight status threat, humanize every issue.

At the heart of the Right’s strategy is a bet on the power of status threat: white people who feel their power and status in society is threatened by immigrants and Black and brown people; men who feel their status is threatened by women, trans and nonbinary people; women who feel threatened by other women…the list goes on. The Right has weaponized fear of the “other” to harness out-group aggression and to create in-group belonging among its base. They have successfully fear-mongered their way to power. And there may be nothing more dangerous than the human response to fear: it can easily turn to hate. White supremacy and toxic masculinity are the most nefarious and powerful fueling forces of today’s Republican party. How do we fight such widespread dehumanization?

First and foremost, we have to humanize every issue. Policy is about people, not abstract concepts. This is why, when we talk about immigration, we refer to undocumented people, not illegal aliens. It’s why, when we talk about the economy, we refer to rising costs of living, not inflation. It’s why, when we talk about climate change, we talk about making sure all families have clean water to drink and clean air to breathe, not why clean energy makes America’s economy globally competitive. It's one reason why, when we talk about police killing Black people, we say their names. 

When Republicans use the language of dehumanization to frame an issue, we must do the opposite. Language shapes the way people think. The words we use matter.

Democrats have an opportunity to demonstrate they are the party that cares about all people. We need to both show this through our actions and speak this through our words.

8. Strong, not tough.

Elections are about choices. Choices require contrast. Contrast requires difference. So let’s not try to make this next election a choice of “tough” or “tougher.” Democrats will never out-tough Republicans. So. let’s. stop. trying. Republicans want to make this next election about strong versus weak. They’ve started with ads focused on a “weak” and “frail” President Biden. They’ll follow with more saying Democrats are weak on crime and the border. This is bait.

Projecting strength to fend off that narrative is essential. But this is one of those situations in which the thing that is most in line with our values is also the thing that is most strategic: Democrats need to define their own brand of strength, one that is credible and authentic. Courage. Resilience. Perseverance. Empathy. Humanity. Conveniently, this is exactly the kind of strength to be found in Joe Biden’s personal story.

If Republicans insist on playing the role of ruthless bully, we need to remind voters that bullies act out of insecurity and desperation. That is weak.

9. Play the long game.

Given the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, Democrats’ narrow hold in the Senate, and conservatives holding the majority in the Supreme Court, the front lines of battle on so many issues have moved to the States. The overturning of Roe v. Wade and the subsequent state-level abortion bans drew national attention to this fact, but states have long held power on some of the most important issues.

To name only a few, it is states who draw [and gerrymander] district maps, and it is states who decide voter registration and election administration laws. More recently, Republican state legislators have turned their attention to passing laws that take away basic freedoms from trans kids, ban books, and restrict important parts of American history from being taught in schools. 

Where are we fighting the fight on gun violence? In the states. In 2021, Texas passed HB1927, a law allowing people over 21 to carry concealed or holstered handguns in most public places, without requiring a license, safety training, or a background check. In more hopeful news, Washington just became the 10th state to sign an assault weapons ban into law, and Michigan recently passed laws requiring background checks, safer gun storage, and a“red flag” law, which authorizes courts to temporarily remove guns from those deemed a danger to themselves or others. 

We desperately need action at the federal level: we must pass national voting standards and gun safety laws. But in the meantime, we also need to build power and go on offense in the states. There are currently 20 states with Republican supermajorities, and only nine with Democratic supermajorities. Republicans figured this out a while ago. Democrats must catch up. 

Finally, if we are serious about building power in the states, we have to invest in building a more robust Democratic leadership pipeline. We must recruit the next generation of leaders to become policymakers at the state and local level with just as many resources as we recruit them at the federal level. We must recruit talent to run their campaigns, and provide them best-in-class training and tools. Many groups like Arena and Run for Something have become important parts of Democratic infrastructure to support this work, but they need more funding to meaningfully grow their impact in the years to come. 

10. Stay focused, clear, and consistent.

None of the ideas I’m offering here are new. But they bear repeating. If we want voters to believe in the Democratic party again, we have to consistently offer them real vision, and authentic leadership. We have to stop entertaining debates over false choices like persuasion versus turnout. We have to stop pitting inoffensive “populist” messaging against “truly progressive” messaging because right now, that’s beside the point. We need to stop perpetuating false narratives about things like apathy. And frankly, we need to stop making excuses.

To be clear, it’s on all of us. Not just the committees. Not just the candidates. Not just the staff. Not just the movement leaders. Not just the activists. Not just the insiders. All of us. At best, our brand clearly signals the values and the culture we seek to create. We have to live those values every day to build that culture. We have to choose our words carefully, have the courage of our convictions (that’s strength), and collectively arrive at a story that Americans see themselves in. We need to provide voters with a new home. One they want to live in.

The last three years have been full of uncertainty and instability: a global pandemic, civil unrest, partisan violence, the rise of fascism, and now a looming recession. If the Democratic party wants to win the future, we must offer people clarity, consistency, and focus. 

Then, maybe we can even find our way to a little inspiration.