2025 07 10 DFL Senior Caucus Meeting
This is a little unusual. I want to send something to my elected representative, and to Angie Craig, who is a spokesperson for the "New Majority" democrats. BUT, I don't exactly fit in their 2,000 character limit.. SO, I am sending them a link to this blog entry. My apologies to the rest of you.Gathering Input
I hear your call for “listening” to our intended audience, but I think going around the room with this group is not the right way to do that. I looked at the list you had garnered from the website entries, and I am concerned about every single one of those things. I would even have difficulty prioritizIng one of them over the others. That seems like a “data intensive” exercise, with some rational basis. And MY GUT says that is not the way to proceed here. We Democrats have been talking about programs and facts and rational arguments forever - and that is not how we want to address this issue right now.
I agree that we need research on the issues, and a sense of priorities, and find ways to turn those things into programs and agenda and legislation - but that is not how you win an election. That is how you manage a government. It is clear that the other side has done a bunch of homework on how to destroy our governmental services, but they obiously do not lead with that.
I think our focus has to be on how to do a few things well to persuade people who are not paying attention. I think there is solid research behind all of what I am saying, and it would be helpful to get that in our brains so we do not get buried in facts and issues. We should:
Get People’s Attention.
Let’s face it, most people are not “paying attention.” Most people are not even aware that the current administration is causing general chaos. They are busy, they have bills and concerns. They are not engrossed in the latest news and hot issues. Most people are pretty much uninformed, and could care less what politicians are arguing about.
How do we overcome that? There is a lot of research out there that speaks to that, and it would be helpful to gather some of that together to persuade ourselves, our candidates, and our fearless leaders of that fact. This is my "amateurish" summary.Create a persuasive vision.
People do not generally ponder ideas and issues. They have feelings, fears, needs, beliefs. They vote with their gut, not their brain. Thinking is a rare event. A detailed explanation of the benefits of a newly revised and enlightened immigration program is not going to move them. The economic impact of massive tax cuts is way out there in the future, and may never impact me personally. Who cares? The other side uses lies and threats and scare tactics to create FEAR, one of our strongest emotions.
What we need is a moving, empathic vision of a CARING community for all of humankind. We are social people, we depend on each other, we need each other. We want to build a supportive community for all of humankind - those in our party, those in our country, and fundamentally for the whole planet. Love and caring is another of our strong emotions. How do we generate that in our audience?
And we want to do that by investing in the technology and programs and education that will build our caring community of tomorrow. Programs for our children, tax credits for them, feeding them in school, etc.
We do not need scare tactics. We need positive, supportive messages. It is amazing what humans can do when we pull together, and use our resources wisely.
The supporters of the other side have a view of our nation that has two layers - ME on top, and THOSE OTHERS on the bottom. It’s a kind of model in their head, not a specific agenda. If you do things that support those on the bottom, it puts my status at risk. This is a win / lose game. We want to create a win / win game. We are all in this together, and I’m pulling for you (Red Green).Do NOT criticize the other side.
Even mentioning their ideas or tactics or goals, brings them right back to the forefront of people’s attention. And many of our fellow citizens are energized by the things they say, so they hear that as a criticism of themselves. We want them to hear our message, not be repelled by our negativity. Never speak the name of an opposing candidate, or criticize what they say or how they say it. Their supporters know that, and our supporters know that. If we want the attention of the independent voters in the middle, we want our message and vision in their mind, not the other one. They speak lies - pointing to the truth used to be a valid criticism - but that world no longer exists.We do not need that DEI thing.
I know it was a good thing to do for its time, and many people benefited from it. Today it is a negative even for those it was intended to support, and some folks have taken it to extreme measures. Instead of race or nationality or skin, we should be focused on social economic opportunities. The income disparity in this country is simply incredible. I know these are useless facts, but the top 1% have taken some 40 trillion bucks from the rest of us in the last 20 years. There’s a RAND study to that effect. With that kind of money we could really do something. Just spreading it around would help, but it would be better focused on investments for the benefit of all.A Charismatic Leader.
We need all the above, and we need it in the person of the most charismatic, charming, well spoken, frank, honest, integrated human we can find. Pete Buttigieg comes to mind, or maybe Rahm Emmanual. I would love a female person of color, if they have the presence and sense of self to be the catalyst for all of this.
Research on elections shows that people vote for the smile, for the face, for the “presence” of the candidate - not for their ideas and programs. Those are almost unimportant. Look at what the opposition has accomplished with a candidate that is as dumb as a box of rocks. Oops. Should not have said that.Cory Booker.
I just listened to a podcast with Senator Booker and Steven Dubnar. You can find it below. I highly recommend it. He is first class. Tough, even handed, insightful, courageous even. See what you think. Freakonomics Radio, episode 639.
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/this-country-kicks-my-ass-all-the-time/
Surely someone at the national level has figured this out. They have to have folks with more moxy and experience with all of this. Why aren’t they sharing a program with us? We are the peons on the bottom here. Pick us up. Lead us forward.
This is a bit from one of my blog entries which I think is on point for the positive message cited above. See what you think. The blog entry itself is here, with the research references. NOTE this is four years old.
https://carlscheider.blogspot.com/2021/04/finally-i-understand-what-is-wrong-with.html
One activist and researcher working on this is Anat Shenker-Osorio. She has been researching the kind of messaging that can call out this fear generation and counter it. (Shenker-Osorio) The key is to find a positive message that explicitly counters the negative messages that generate fear. This is key. It is not enough to generate a positive message, to point to rational arguments and the truth - those do not work to counter the emotion, especially fear. It is more effective to call on the positive values that we all share, and to create a message that creates empathy in people. Call them to be their best, to join those of us who are united in a positive message.
The science behind storytelling can help as well. If you can get a listener or a reader to live for a few seconds or few minutes in the life of their fellow citizens, you generate a positive, supportive emotion that can help overcome their basic fear.
Sometimes a campaign phrase, a set of messages can be successful. In other cases, a technique called "deep canvassing" might be helpful, where the interviewer engages a person in a shared exploration of common values. You can read more about that technique here: Changing the Conversation Together.
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