6 Steps the Democrats Need to Execute (And 3 For You)

A Good Date to Begin All This?  Yesterday

Where Things Stand Today

One of the common frustrations I hear (and share) is that the Democrats generally have been slow in countering the Trump administration and in communicating with America. To be sure, they have few options or levers in Washington, but it is a fair criticism that the movement to make things better has been slow and disconnected. Anyone who bothered to read Plan 2025 is not surprised at the steps and pace of the Trump administration. We knew pretty much what was coming and that a very rapid full court press was a key to their strategy.

Some level of organization is now appearing and actions in the courts are picking up. Still, we are not where we should be as a country right now. Let’s look at a few things that could help a great deal and should be in place today. The following list is every bit as much about communication as it is policy and politics.

1. Daily/Weekly Focus Session – Press Conference

 Messaging from the Democrats has been largely reactive, slow, disconnected, and not all that well delivered. In essence, media management does not exist. Better results could be obtained with a regularly scheduled output – press conference, articles, etc. using every media tool available. The live portions should be short, delivered by first rate communicators (more on that later in this article).  The graphics should be simple, easy to understand, impactful, and footnoted.

Doing something like this regularly – perhaps weekly – would get out of the reactive mode. At every such event, the following points should always be presented:

• What Republicans Did this week that hurts America and Americans
• What We Would Have Done (and did in the past)
• What We Are Doing to Fight This
• What You Can Do

2. Stop Being the Minority Party and Be the Opposition Party

The American tradition is for the party who loses an election to serve as the minority party, looking for opportunities to work together in governance, fighting the majority when necessary. While both components – cooperation and competion – remain valid, it is past time to reverse the emphasis. In most of Europe, the party out of power is not known as the minority party, but as the opposition party. They focus on making clear what the party in power is doing wrong and what they would do differently, clearly and frequently. Past time for the Democrats to take this approach.

The Plan 2025 bunch now in power is not a group one can readily work with. Their goal is not just different policies but dismantling a long list of American values and governance models. Working with a group that openly seeks to dismantle and privatize government, to make Christian Nationalism the state religion, and to make the president essentially an unaccountable dictator is not a group to work with any more than absolutely necessary.

3. A Team Bench of Great Spokespersons

The regular updates mentioned in item 1 should be delivered by a terrific roster of the most capable spokespersons. Nothing less than A+ communicators (writers and speakers) should be on this team. Look to have speakers that core Democrats can identify with and that those whose votes were lost in 2024 will find relevant. Needed are people who write really well, who give great speeches, who can extemporize well, and are comfortable with hostle media and new formats, like blogs. We have such people, some in Congress, many as governors and state legislators, and others. Unfortunately, many of the Congressional leaders do not make the cut. They need to step aside and let others carry this burden.

4. A Shadow Press Secretary

A primary spokesperson is sorely needed, one who can be the frequent spokesman and sone who can help select, train, and operationalize the aforementioned spokespersons team. One name who is often mentioned for this role is Pete Buttigieg. Yeah, I know – white guy, gay, etc. Get over it. I cannot think of anyone who does this sort of communication better. He would be an excellent choice. Now that he has announced that he will be running for no office in 2025-2026, there would be no conflicts of interest. If not Pete, pick someone else, but get a steady voice and face out there regularly.

5. A Shadow Cabinet

Trump’s first term featured a remarkably weak and incompetent cabinet. But they look like superstars compared to the current cabinet. This is not just a judgement of disagreement on policy, although there is plenty of that. This crew is singularly unqualified and unsuitable almost across the board. The conflicts of interest are stupefying (including folks like Musk in this category).

It is not an American tradition to have a shadow cabinet, and since we do not really have a party leader/candidate for Democrats at this time, setting up a shadow cabinet would be a bit challenging. But it is doable, and the contrast would be striking. Imagine a roster of imminently qualified people who could regularly highlight why the incumbent should not be there, what is wrong in a given agency/department now, and what they would do differently if they assumed authority tomorrow. The contrasts in policy and persons would be very effective messaging. 

6. Consolidate Requests For Donations

This is the one that almost surely will not happen, in part because no one has the authority to control fund raising by groups and individual candidates. But we all feel swamped with requests for donations, from so many sources. If feels like a presidential election year that will never end. To the extent at least some of these could be consolidated so people do not feel deluged and unsure where to give, it would be a most healthy change. Even some progress in this area would be most welcome. And would make the party much more effective.

OK, What 3 Things For You And Me To Accomplish?

We have talked about what the Democrats need to do, but what about you and I. From my perspective, we have 3 responsibilities. You are likely to not like these, but I think we need to face up to them.

1. Don’t Get Tired – Get Angry. And Stay That Way

This is a marathon, not a sprint. Simply giving up is not an option. Think what these folks now in power could do with four years of no real counter to them? Pace yourself, take a break when needed, but stay with it and get back in there. Far too much is at stake to simply give in and hibernate.

2. Underwrite Independent Journalism

We all are tired of paywalls and incomplete articles that require a subscription to finish reading. Blogs are increasingly built on subscriptions. I really get the frustrations, but the reality of the old news process is dead and buried. Most of us grew up getting free or low cost news, with advertising paying for the costs. That no longer works. Either you and I contribute to underwrite journalism locally and nationally or it is all set by Musk, Bezos, et all.

You would not expect a plumber to work for you for free, nor a doctor or trash collector. We expect to pay writers for books. It is now the same for opinions and news outlets. I have largely cancelled my old subscriptions or gone to cheaper electronic connections and put the balance into a slowly growing list of publications and online sources that deserve support and that have earned my trust. Pay for reliable quality. If we insist on free, we will get what we pay for – and deserve.

3. Donate Regularly to a Party (Local and National) And Candidates

I often hear statements like, “The Democrats are always asking for money. Show me you are doing something, and I might donate.” Given the aforementioned things the Democrats are not doing well, such resistance to donating is understandable. I have felt the same way myself at times.  But the reality is that this is a nonstarter. Mounting effective campaigns and doing first rate communications are expensive processes. If we don’t maintain reasonable cash flow, things do not happen and only the wealthy can run for office. So, yeah, I am back to regularly contributing to House and Senate campaign committees and supporting some specific races.

Will those investments pay off? I hope so, but don’t really know. I do know that if most of the energy has to go into fund raising, less effort can go into substantive campaigns and policy. We need to pay our share, now.

Told you that you would not like the 3 items for us to take on!

See You Next Week

Bill Clontz

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