Forget the 2024 autopsies. Democrats need to be bold — and ruthless

What Democrats have here is a failure to communicate — and that failure may prove fatal, not just for the party, but for American democracy itself.

As the shock has worn off following former Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump in November, and Trump’s inauguration in January, disillusioned Democrats have been searching for someone or something — anyone or anything — to solve their entrenched messaging and branding failures. Some have even called on former President Barack Obama to fill the void by speaking out forcefully and consistently against Trump. (For his part, Obama has urged Democrats to stop “navel-gazing” and “toughen up.”) Their fruitless search for a solution has revealed a party not just in disarray, but in denial. A recent poll by the Wall Street Journal found only 33% of voters hold a favorable view of Democrats, with 63% expressing an unfavorable view of the party — the most unpopular Democrats have been in 35 years of WSJ polling.

This comes as the Democratic National Committee is conducting an autopsy of the 2024 race. But the report will not tackle hard questions, such as former President Joe Biden’s decision to seek reelection amid concerns about his age, his decision to drop out and if Harris was the best Democrat to replace him. The New York Times notes it will also avoid “key decisions” made by Harris’ campaign, including the decision to not respond to an ad memorably attacking her on the issues of transgender rights and inclusive language.

Democrats seem to be swerving the hard questions altogether, focusing instead on an effort by big money donors and the consultant class to develop a progressive alternative to MAGA’s online recruitment machine of podcasters, YouTube stars and other influencers, which the New York Times aptly described as “throw[ing] money at a problem.” They are desperate to discover or manufacture a political miracle weapon in the form of their own Joe Rogan and his millions of followers.

In a scene worthy of satire, Democratic elites — so-called limousine liberals — are also holding meetings at luxury hotels to solve the riddle of how to speak authentically to “working-class” (white) men. This new strategy even has an acronym, “SAM” — short for ‘Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan.’”

The report “recommends buying advertisements in video games, among other things” and “[a]bove all…shift[ing] from a moralizing tone.”

All that may be too little, too late. Since 2008, Democratic support among working-class white men has dropped by 30 percent. And in the 2024 election, Trump was able to make inroads with working-class Black and Latino men.

Part of the issue, according to Reece Peck, a communications scholar and author of “Fox Populism: Branding Conservatism as Working Class,” comes down to divergent social identities and language. He described Democrats as being centered on upper middle-class “hyper-educationed Americans” who “place immense value on language.”

“The fatal flaw is that Democrats often assume this class-specific cultural fixation is widely shared across the broader electorate,” Peck said. “In contrast, working-class Americans tend to approach language more contextually. They often interpret statements in good faith and prioritize the intention behind a message more than the exact wording — unlike many in the professional class, who insist that intention is irrelevant.”

Because of this focus, Peck said “it’s no surprise that many of [the party’s] figures are wary of unscripted, freewheeling formats like podcasts — platforms that are almost antithetical to their communication norms. But after two losses to a tabloid-style president like Trump — who sees all publicity as good publicity — Democrats and their allies are beginning to abandon this rigid standard.”

The Washington Post recently reported the “growing consensus” among some party leaders is “that shifting away from a cautious and carefully scripted image is crucial.” Their plan to “project a raw authenticity” seems to be to follow in Trump’s footsteps by lobbing more insults toward Republicans and cursing more, going on more podcasts and recording videos to be broadcast on their social media channels.

But while the Democrats keep conducting autopsies and churning out plans to be authentic, curse more and find the next Joe Rogan, Trump and his MAGA supporters are rapidly destroying the country’s democratic life. In the face of these threats and autocratic actions, Democrats need to return to fundamentals in their messaging.

“Aesthetic reform is welcome,” Peck said, “but it must be followed by deeper, more resonant political storytelling — specifically, strong moral narratives that clearly identify villains and articulate the root causes of working-class oppression.”

Who are the heroes and villains? What is the story? What are the moral implications of the story? 

How can we highlight voters’ lived experiences? How is the Big Vile Bill affecting people’s lives, including those of Medicaid recipients, caregivers and people living below the poverty line? What are the day-to-day stakes for the winners and the losers — and for the nation as a whole?

A brand is a form of emotional identification between a person and a product. In modern marketing and advertising, it is also an extension of a person’s identity. At its core, a brand can provide a type of “team” that stands to make people feel less isolated and lonely.

In politics, this means distilling a complex message into something emotional that has a direct connection to a person or group. This is especially critical given how political scientists and other experts have consistently shown that the average American is imagistic, easily distracted and manipulated, lacks an in-depth understanding of public policy and history, and has a hard time distinguishing between facts and mistruths. 

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In this model, political parties function as a type decision-making shortcut where a person does not need to know the specifics of a given public policy but that, like a favorite fast-food restaurant, they know they can usually find something they like on the menu.

Trump and his MAGA supporters have spent years — and in some cases, decades — refining their brand, and telling a consistent and superior (if untrue and offensive) story about it. The MAGA movement sees their battle as existential, with Trump as their Christ-figure, a hero and savior, and Democrats as the enemy. 

This has left Democrats at a serious disadvantage.

While the average person may not have expert-level knowledge about politics and public policy, they know who Donald Trump is, and what he stands for and means to them, either positively or negatively. By comparison, the average American cannot currently explain what Democrats really believe. Polling shows the Democratic brand is toxic and increasingly irrelevant. Ultimately, the party has no single unifying character, leader, story or slogan to rally around.

During a recent speech, former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas diagnosed the problem. “Democrats care more about being right than being in power. We have to change that. We have to be ruthlessly focused on winning power.” 

O’Rourke’s message is one Democrats need to absorb.

Steven Fish, a political scientist and author of “Comeback: Routing Trumpism, Reclaiming the Nation, and Restoring Democracy’s Edge,” highlights another example of a leader who is modeling the type of strong branding Democrats need. “California Governor Gavin Newsom is accepting every invitation from right-leaning manosphere podcasters, telling their audiences that most of what Trump tells them is [nonsense] — and showing them that at least one liberal has the guts to say it to their faces,” he said. 

“His social media operation has become a wicked MAGA-trolling machine, and he hits back at every attack with exuberant aggression rather than cries of umbrage and pain. When Trump threatened to arrest him during the anti-deportation demonstrations in Los Angeles, Newsom replied: ‘Come after me, arrest me. Just get it over with, tough guy, you know where to find me.’”

By “constantly sound[ing] the alarm,” Fish said, “Newsom is scoring points against the Republicans, re-moralizing Democrats and showing Americans a liberal leader who is always on the offensive — and is having the time of his political life.”

Any rebranding, no matter how bold, must be backed up by substance. In my conversation with Peck, he called for “a bold, material policy package that credibly addresses working-class misery, unaffordability and the collapse of upward mobility.” 

“Strong working-class policy,” he explained, “follows strong, confrontational moral storytelling — and that, in turn, depends on embracing the linguistic aesthetics and values of working-class communication. Democrats must understand this full sequence of rhetorical and cultural alignment if they want to win.”

Democrats and other pro-democracy Americans are quickly running out of time to develop a winning message to communicate a coherent vision of a better future for the country’s embattled middle and working classes. Trump and his forces have the U.S. in the grip of autocracy, and they will not let go. Instead of being so obsessed with political autopsies, Democrats should behave like visionary political leaders. Now is the time for boldness.