Removing Barriers

CNN: “Democratic Party’s favorability drops to a record low”

The papers and newcasts are filled with Democrats’ angst. A CNN poll finds that “less than two‑thirds of Democrats have a positive view of the Democratic Party” right now. There is no acknowledged party leader. Some columnists call for a swing to liberal (read extreme) solutions to persistent problems and  inequities. Others call for aggressive attacks on Trumpism. Still others call for humility and more empathetic listening. Some say we need to erase symbols of elitism and expertise. Some say it’s message that needs attending to; others, policies and programs: saying vs. doing.

Back in the 2016 election, I suggested a positioning of the Democratic Party that encompasses both saying and doing. Neither Clinton nor Adam Smith nor the DNC nor Nancy Pelosi responded to my suggestion but I am undeterred, like a child Herald to the Dark Tower keeps coming. I made a successful career “positioning” products, services, and not-for-profit enterprises, i.e., articulating mission, developing product, creating awareness, and seeding beliefs. I mean by positioning the place you hold in the brain of your prospective customer, donor, or voter relative to that they hold about your competitor: in political terms, what the voting public believes “Democrat” means relative to Conservative, Libertarian, Republican, or whomever.

I want our party to narrow its focus to removing barriers both in what we talk about and in the proposals we espouse. What barriers? Barriers to education. Barriers to housing. To health care. To voting.

Nothing more; forget railing against Musk and Trump, against billionaires, against opponents of same-sex marriage and proponents of abortion bans, against corporations and Citizens United. Debate taxation and immigration, EU/Nato and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, deficits and national debt only in response to challenge. Initiate and steer conversation to what matters to American families, to what impedes their attainment of better lives for themselves, their children, and grandchildren: access to affordable education, access to affordable housing, affordable and accessible healthcare, and easy voting registration and participation.

We should become the Party of Removing Barriers: barriers to Education, to Housing, to Healthcare, to Voting. Simple, persistent, policy priorities and a simple message to grasp and relate to.