Ezra Klein: The Democrat Elevator Pitch

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June 23, 2005

The Democrat Elevator Pitch

I was thinking of calling this post Talking Points Memo, but that name is already in use.

Atrios points to AmericaBlog issuing a call for better Democrat message control.

It requires an echo chamber. But, bloggers are probably too political. You know how too many Democrats and progressive groups in DC are -- they do policy, not politics.
Wrong. Until you figure out how to win at politics -- and how NOT to play in to the hands of the right wingers -- you're not doing any good policy.

So here is my contribution to the Left Wing Echo Chamber.

I have already outlined the proper strategy for dealing with mis-statements that are certain to occur in any party. Let me continue by suggesting the proper Democrat Elevator Pitch. For the uninitiated, the elevator pitch is a short sentence or series of phrases that can encapsulate the beliefs of the party, supposedly compact enough to be delivered in the course of an elevator ride.

According to Matt Yglesias, the Republican elevator pitch is “Smaller Government, Family Values, and A Strong National Defense”. This is a reflection of the two basic types of Republicans: Libertarians and Traditionalists, and ends with an attack on the Republican Bogeyman, the Hippy. It’s very well designed, so all Democrats have to do is invert it so that it applies to Democrats. The proper inversion is “Family Resources, Diversity of Culture, and against Corporate Corruption.” This of course reflects the two basic halves of Democrat policy and attacks the Democrat Bogeyman: the Crony Capitalist.

The key to both is in assigning the more authoritarian aspects to protection of some symbol that is of paramount importance, presently the Family. The individualistic aspects are generically unpopular and their benefit is hard to understand, so each is explained by an appeal to economic growth. Of course the Bogeyman is the perfect complement. Who would be against a strong national defense? Only a hippie. And what does this Bogeyman hide? Corruption. If you cut wasteful defense boondoggles, you are slandered as a hippy.

Note: There is no statement about foreign policy in either of these. “Strong National Defense” may trick some people, but as evidenced by Novakula and Pat Buchanan, a strong national defense could also mean keeping our shiny new military locked up in the garage so it doesn’t get a scratch. Indeed, there isn’t any legitimate connection between foreign policy and domestic policy, although sometimes one is fabricated.

-The Jew

June 23, 2005 | Permalink

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Comments

Wow, that's an awful slogan...

Posted by: John | Jun 23, 2005 9:00:35 PM

What are "resources?" I don't know what that means. Why does "diversity of culture" matter to me? I don't know.

You have to imagine not knowing what these words mean. I'd say that 95 percent of voting Americans don't really know what you mean here. For this reason you've failed, but you probably haven't learned the Key Lesson of political campaigns, summed up for me at a training by the following statement:

"We are abnormal." We meaning wonks, you, and me. The other related statement: "The average American spends 5 minutes every week on politics. That's it."

Remember that when you're...sorry to use the word...."framing" things. Describing things. Think of the "non politically obsessed possibly non college or community college educated nonreader of national publications yet otherwise entirely respectable adult."

Posted by: Termination Shock | Jun 23, 2005 11:29:28 PM

I see you've been taking your lexicon from the right. It's "Democratic" please.

Posted by: cafl | Jun 23, 2005 11:35:04 PM

I like this post and your pitch but neither contributes helpfully to the Echo Chamber we need on the Left right now, today. If a Congressperson had called you and given you an interview to blog about or if, say, John Edwards had weighed in here, that would get something echoing. I'm all about strategy; it's fun. But an Echo Chamber doesn't do strategy. It does message. Right now we need a message about the story du jour (Rove/GOP slanders fully half of America) to resonate. I haven't seen anyone from the Dem leadership reach out to the only people willing to help them echo their message. Until that happens, our Echo Chamber is going to be very noisy, but not at all productive.

Posted by: eRobin | Jun 24, 2005 12:16:40 AM

What does Smaller Government mean? What are family values exactly? The meaning of these phrases was imbued through years of repetition by Republicans. Why are Republicans for the Estate Tax? They believe in Smaller Government. Why are the Republicans against stem cell research and gay marriage? They believe in Family Values. WTF does that mean? Well, nothing really, in isolation.

The Elevator Pitch is an excuse from reasoning. It stops a line of questioning dead cold by stating a pseudo-principle. Example:

Q: Mr. President, considering that it only applies to multi-millionaires, isn’t the elimination of the Estate Tax simply a give away to the rich?
PRESIDENT: Well, Skippy, the Republican party believes that in order for America to grow, the government’s got to get out of the way of the small business person. Republicans believe that the government should let everyone have a chance to succeed, and while some people in Washington don’t see it that way, we’ll keep fightin’ to make sure every American has that chance.

No need for reasoning, just state the talking point. An example for Democrats:

Q: Most Americans are grossed out by the idea of two naked men touching. Isn’t the Democratic party’s support of the humanity of homosexuals dangerously icky?
DEMOCRAT: The Democrat party believes a diverse culture is a large part of what made this country great. Some people in Washington want to break down the barriers between Government and private life, threatening the diversity that is necessary for our success. Well, the Democrats just won’t stand for that, and that’s why we have to take this position, because we want to protect the diversity of American culture.

This is an example using the “Family Resources” phrase, which refers to healthcare, retirement security, and education.

Posted by: TheJew | Jun 24, 2005 12:46:47 AM

Part of poor gamesmanship is letting the other guy define your position. Oversimplification is just too easy to present. Moderation is correspondingly difficult to sell but defines the meaning of the word civil in civilization. Oddly enough, I tend to think of this as a female strategy (and they can be very good talkers). Are we all falling victim to the P.T. Barnum quotes re: gullibility of the common man ? We were raised with TV ads, after all.Maybe showing that it is possible to live without shooting oneself in the foot (and more pleasant) would fly with the aging of America.

Posted by: opit | Jun 24, 2005 1:20:50 AM

Hi :) I don't think I disagree with you. Your examples are great and when Dem reps go to talk to the Bobble Heads and the rest of the corporate media, they should use that technique. But I'm talking about how the Dems can use bloggers to advance their argument right now, today. Maybe I'm wrong but I think this could be a tipping point for the Dems, if they play their cards right. One of those cards is the blogs that support them.

As you point out in the top post, the corporate media is not trying to give this story legs, as they would, and indeed have, if the parties were reversed. At the very least, we should have received Dem talking points on the issue. Instead we're working off RNC talking points and figuring out how to come at them. (Kicking Ass posted a response that probably be considered a list of talking points but why force us to find it and figure that out?)

I'm sure Lefty bloggers everywhere are coming up with brilliant ideas that are doomed to die unnoticed while the Dems plod on the same path that has brought them to this dreadful point.

Posted by: eRobin | Jun 24, 2005 9:06:37 AM

I like some of these idea, but I think they could use some polish. Also, you can adjust the elevator pitch, depending on the audience.

Here are a few ideas I had last night after reading this:

1- Diversity per se is hard to sell. Liberty has a good resonance though, so what about 'Liberty of conscience' or 'freedom of conscience' to suggest that people have the right to live a good life, according to their own values.

2- Justice is an issue I think the Dems can and need to push. Republicans do well with bloodlust, but Justice is an easy sell, and it can reflect anything from cracking down on corporate corruption, to aggressively pursuing the extradition of terrorists. Justice can be used to justify remediating racial inequities in the justice system, or offering homosexuals equal legal protections that their heterosexual partners already have.

3- Opportunity. While republicans like to talk about ownership and property rights, democrats should talk about opportunity. Only the republican opinion shapers believe that opportunity is a zero-sum game. That's how they're able to campaign against quotas and then kill college grants (hurting anyone who needs help going to college). Democrats need to be the party that believes in opportunity.

4- I've got a foreign policy position that everyone from marines to pacifists could buy into: "American foreign policy must pursue American interests, but it must also be governed by American values." How's that for a wedge? What's it mean? It could mean we don't commit troops unless we have a national interest in doing so. Or it could mean we do commit troops to save lives. I means that we don't support despots who will stab us in the back. Trade policy that supports American business good. Trade policy that allows capital to flee overseas in search of cheaper labor, maybe not.

Posted by: Michael McLawhorn | Jun 24, 2005 12:33:06 PM

Why not just use the same slogan, except replace small with responsible?

Posted by: Adrock | Jun 24, 2005 2:20:34 PM

Mr. Jew,

I'm afraid Michael is much better at this game than you are. “Family Resources, Diversity of Culture, and against Corporate Corruption" is pretty much the worst elevator pitch I could imagine, and it is not improved by repetition.

On the other hand, every single liberal position can be boiled down to liberty, justice, and opportunity.

Posted by: Thad | Jun 25, 2005 2:16:08 AM

I think that since Newt is (or was) on the record with disliking the phrase 'corporate welfare', we can start slinging it around, and use it against the Senator from MBNA

Also, a good libertarian 'keep our goverment out of people's bedrooms and Christian fundamentalists out of our goverment' meme would be nice.

3rd: "Opportunity" re health care: If you're a citizen or legal resident, you're covered on everything from having a splinter taken out to getting a new heart if a donor becomes avaliable. We whipped the Nazis and the Japanese Empire, sent the first men to land on the moon, outlasted the Soviet Empire, and we can't figure out how to do this? FTS!

Posted by: The Dark Avenger | Jun 25, 2005 4:49:20 PM

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