Democrats: A Mess Without a Message

Democrats,

I know you know you really screwed up on the recent Iraq funding bill. And I know you think it's not entirely fair that you are being excoriated -- after all, it's only funding the war until September. By providing temporary funding, you're buying yourselves the time and political climate you think you need to line up a veto-proof majority against the Bush administration.

I get it. In fact, most of us who follow political discourse get it. But a critical aspect of your job is to ensure that all Americans get what you did, how you did it, and why you did it.

Unfortunately, you utterly failed at managing the media message (and that's putting it lightly). "Democrats backed down" is the prevailing meme. Nice job -- you just took a huge chunk out of the Democratic brand.

No matter what the legislative realities, it didn't have to be this way. It would not have taken too much time or investment to ensure that the right message was shuttled through the media meme machine -- yet this clearly did not happen.

In case it's not clear to you just yet, Americans need to believe that Democrats can stand up for America in the face of external threats. However, you just gave Americans a taste for what happens to Democrats when they are rejected twice by a powerful force -- they give in. Great message. That's really going to convince the Security Moms and NASCAR Dads that Democrats are tough enough to fight whatever foreign enemy it is that we seem to think we're fighting.

Unfortunately, it's really too late to provide any messaging advice at this point in time. But, just to make a point, here's a taste of what a good communications/messaging plan would have consisted of:

1. Seed the blogosphere with advanced notice of a planned short-term capitulation. Hone this message to explain that this is not about backing down in the face of the Bush administration -- it is buying three months' time to rally support across the nation for the ultimate veto-proof majority. Explain that, after the historic 2006 election (taking this opportunity to thank the o-so-powerful blogosphere again for their help), the Democratic party is now a big tent party that has purple, blue, and violet members that need to be satisfied. Creating this grand coalition is critical, and will be lined up in September when it's show time.
2. Seed the mainstream media with advanced leakage of planned short-term funding to ensure that the troops have enough money to fight throughout the summer. Democrats will cautiously support the Generals' requests to assess effectiveness of the so-called Surge Strategy.
3. Get a firebrand Dem (i.e., Murtha) to book himself on Meet the Press the Sunday prior to the bill passing, allowing him to get all huffy about how detached from reality the President is, and how he's essentially jeopardizing our troops' well-being by playing politics and political theater. He can end with something quote-worthy like "The President relishes his own power more than the safety of our troops, or the safety of America."
4. On Monday morning news programs, enlist a staid Democratic leader to comment on Murtha's statements, stating that he understands Murtha's frustrations, and that Murtha represents many people in the country. Yet calm heads must prevail to ensure our troops that are already deployed are as safe and equipped as possible until we're ready to move out -- which is obviously going to be sooner rather than later.
5. Upon bill passing, Democratic leaders make the point that, based on the unreasonable position of the Bush administration, people of conscience simply cannot put the troops in the middle of a political showdown like the President is trying to do. Democrats in Congress will simply not use the troops as a political tool, and will meet the President half-way by only funding the war until September. Come September, the President will have to show us either undeniably clear progress in Iraq or face the fact that he has to end his deeply flawed war in Iraq.
   

Can you see how executing on this strategy might have not only altered how the press summed up the situation, but also served to limit the revolts you're currently seeing in the liberal blogosphere? Do you see how subtly assigning (admittedly unlikely) success in Iraq to all Americans, and failure in Iraq to Bush specifically is a strategic messaging strategy?

Democrats (especially congressional Dems), if you are not going to rely on messaging strategists (like OKR, who you can contact at will) as an integral part of your political strategies, then you risk continually being defined by your adversaries, and ultimately weaken your chances of leading this country when it is gripped in fear and uncertainty.

This Just In: Purse Strings Have Strings Attached

Congressional Democrats,

A defining moment for the Democratic brand is upon you: how you handle the showdown with the President over Iraq War funding will be inevitably tied to the Democratic Party's ability to lead this country.

I can appreciate what you're doing -- fulfilling your political mission to challenge the current war policy because you were voted into the majority to do just that. While passing bills that attempt to handcuff the Commander-in-Chief in his ability to set war policy certainly smacks of chutzpah, you can do much better in positioning your actions and rationale with the American people.

The bill you recently sent to the President has timetables attached to the money he needs to continue his war policy. Yet Bush is effortlessly brushing aside your advances. It turns out, he's not interested in the dance (look, if he was interested in mingling with a spunky dance partner, do you think he would have married Laura?)

I understand that it is very hard to see the forest for the trees when you live and work in the forest. This is precisely why Our Karl Rove exists -- so take heed of Your Karl Rove's advice to make sure that what makes sense for the country also makes sense to the country.

"We're not giving you a spending bill. We're giving you an accountability bill."

"We're your CFO. And as CFO, we have not been at all pleased with how you're spending the people's tax dollars on this war. As a result, moving forward, you will only get money from us with strings attached."

"Our troops deserve our support, but your leadership does not. As a result, we will be providing funds for our troops to succeed, and providing you with deadlines because you do not seem to be able to set your own."

"Mr. President, the very fact that you require more supplemental spending four years into this war is a sign of failure, not leadership."

These talking points set the context that you are not political guns, but hired representatives trying to do your job responsibly. You were voted into the majority to keep this administration in check. These talking points help ensure that your actions are seen as constructive and positive, versus political and negative.

The President no doubt will continue attempting to portray you as hollow, shameless partisans trying to manipulate public opinion for political gain. You'll want to privately remind him to look in the mirror, while publicly remind him and the public that you're just doing your constitutional duty.

And, depending on how much chutzpah you have left after a few rounds of this verbal sparring, you might want to add that you have political capital, and that you plan on spending it to help move this country back in the right direction.

Postscript: A quick note regarding gun laws in the wake of the Virginia Tech Massacre: There is no one unified belief system in this country around gun control -- opinions vary greatly from state to state. As a result, it would be the most politically advantageous for Democrats to take the position of letting each state decide what's best for its citizens, but the federal government should subsidize states that choose to adopt and enforce gun control.

Democrats: Stronger, More Honest Language is Needed

Democrats,

With your newly regained power in full throttle in congress, it's admittedly more difficult to provide useful political messaging advice on a regular basis. Compared to the days of John Kerry and Al Gore leading the party, the Democrats are much more in-step with how America likes to be spoken to. For instance, Jim Webb is the perfect "voice of the Democratic Party" to give the response to the State of the Union address. In fact, it might be the first time in decades where the response is stronger than the address.

However, there continues to be a serious problem. With the Iraq debacle, while you have come out strongly against the administration's "surge" strategy, there are two major problems with your approach that need to be addressed now:

1. You aren't being honest with yourselves or with the American people (even though you might think you are): You are not really against a "surge." How can you be? How can you really be against adding reinforcements that our troops so desperately need if they're going to be stuck in Iraq like the President demands? To repeat: if the President is determined to keep our troops in Iraq, then they do need additional support.
   
   What you actually are -- and should be -- against, however, is the President's leadership and judgment as Commander-in-Chief. So, it's not that you don't support additional troop support, it's that you don't respect the Commander-in-Chief's judgment any longer. This is direct, to the point, politically expedient, and imminently accurate.
   
   Think about it: If we actually trusted this administration's ability to execute a war strategy effectively, then a majority of people would support this surge. In fact, weren't most Democrats and Generals in support of adding more troops back in 2004? Of course, but that was before we had the unmistakable evidence in hand that this was a confident-not-competent administration.
   
   
2. You are letting Senator Hagel be the mouthpiece of reason to lead the bi-partisan offensive against this administration's war strategy. This is a mistake in the context of rebuilding and recasting the Democratic Party brand with the American people.
   
   Sure, you burnish your bi-partisanship credentials by walking side-by-side with Hagel, but if you ever want to be in the executive branch again, the idea of a Democrat has got to be more than being decent and reasonable -- Democrats also need to have the strength and conviction to make the tough decisions and stand by them even when they're not bi-partisan.
   

Here are some talking points to support these ideas:

"Democrats and Americans have had a lot of patience with this administration's ability to conduct the Iraq war. Unfortunately, we have no choice but to express our loss of confidence in their ability to lead our troops to victory. So, for as long as this administration remains in office, we have no choice but to push for withdraw and redeployment. Due to the failed policies of this administration and the failed Republican congress of the past four years, we are unfortunately left with no better options for our brave men and women."

"Most Democrats and Americans would prefer that their government conduct itself in a bi-partisan, pro-American manner. And to show this commitment, Democrats have quickly established bi-partisan partnership in our campaign against this President's Iraq strategy. Let's be clear, though: The Democratic-led congress will not be bullied or threatened by an administration that has lost support both here and abroad. Not since Nixon has an administration's credibility been so tarnished by getting so many things so wrong, and all the while abusing the trust and power we, the people, entrust with this great office."