We are experiencing one of the most successful, effective Presidencies since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Economic growth is soaring, inflation is abating, just as the President said it would when he cautioned Americans that there was no quick fix, that the economy was reacting to the effects of the pandemic and things would settle down and work. Prices have stabilized or come down in some cases, and the recession that has been warned about, talked about, speculated about and used as a means of attacking the President's economic policies, has not materialized and it has left conservative economists who don't like Biden in a quandary, because, well, it's just not working out to their advantage.
But we are hearing very little about it in the mainstream media. Even the one cable news outlet that can be considered to be favorable, or at least, fair in its reporting on Democrats and on the Biden Administration keeps the narrative on Trump, Trump, Trump. And if the focus isn't on him, or on the moribund "race" among multiple GOP wannabees, which is not news because it's going nowhere, it's on some silly, ridiculously racist bigotry or attack on civil rights by Ron Desantis, or the dead horse of impeaching the President, which has no chance at all of succeeding.
And when I say no chance of succeeding, I mean, it won't ever get past the house, even with its slim GOP majority. Watch and see. They have no issue on which they can debate, or even offer an alternatie plan, so they are resorting to whatever gets them headlines. And it's working.
Democrats Can Stay on Message and Still Grab Headlines
If I were advising Democrats on campaign strategy, or on their public relations and messaging, I would be imploring them to do things to get media attention and make sure that what's happening gets covered. There are a few scattered Democratic candidates for Senate and for Congress who are on the attack, aggressively going after their opponent, and they are getting attention, even in local media in red states, and it is working for them. But the success of the President in economic policy, foreign policy, on the infrastructure bill, should not be left up to the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene to sing its praises, though I have to admit, that is going to get a whole lot more mileage before it runs its course.
We've been through an entire week now of story after story decrying Ron Desantis' attempt to change history objectives in Florida with a learning objective claiming that slavery provided benefits to slaves by helping them acquire skills. I get that this is a despicable, racist, historically uninformed, statement that has prompted multiple commentaries against it. But it has covered up a week's worth of news time that could have been focused on the economy or the way the infrastructure plan that the President put forth is working to create jobs and improve the infrastructure, that the way the administration is managing and covering the costs of these things isn't causing a recession.
What if the media had just ignored Desantis and his comments, treating it as it deserved, by giving it absolutely no attention whatsoever? Of course his position on slavery's benefits was despicably racist and horrific, coming from a modern day politician running for President. But ignoring it would have denied him the attention, and free publicity, he was seeking. Covering him up with better news about the improving economy, which was much more newsworthy, would have sent the clear message to him that the media thinks he is pretty much irrelevant now, and what he has to say or what he does is no longer of any consequence.
An Ongoing Problem That Needs to be Solved
I could almost not believe what I was hearing when MSNBC determined it would no longer cover every single Trump rally, nor show footage of him making a speech at a rally. Why bother? He says the same things over and over, and has become so stale and boring, even his own base is avoiding his rallies as if they were spraying COVID viruses in the air conditioning system. If the media is going to cover his every move, every time he erupts in a rage over facing consequences for something he's done, every cough, every time he makes a trip to the toilet, then Democrats need to be doing things to get the same kind of attention.
The GOP has not offered any kind of alternative plans or agenda to the Democrats except whining about how bad the world is and claiming that they can make it better. While we should win elections on policy, where Democrats have a distinct and almost unfair advantage, we have to make sure that message gets out. Republicans have several media outlets that function as propaganda arms of the party, which is one of the problems. But connecting the issues to the feeling of real people is another matter entirely.
As boring as Trump's ongoing monotone of complaints can be, over and over again, people are also easily bored by the list of issues and political achievements of Democrats. Most people are lost when the economy is the subject of conversation, and they are much less included to pay attention to the manner in which legislation is benefitting them. And frankly, the messaging, combined with the sensationalism of Republican propaganda outlets is the explanation for why the President's job approval is stuck in the mid-40% range, and his disapproval is over 50%.
It's hard to say how much mileage the Biden campaign will get, in terms of attracting voters, from MTG's inadvertend rousing "endorsement," but that's the kind of thing that makes headlines, draws people especially on social media, by the millions if the info on this one is correct, and keeps the attention focused on the message. It goes against the grain of Democrats, who call this "tabloid politics," but the electorate is no longer all that engaged in stats and figures showing them how well off they really are while they are spending a big chunk of their change on credit card interest.
So control the narrative. Think out of the box. Get creative. The politics are heavily weighing on our side. We need to help generate enough support to win decisively in 2024, to put Trumpism away for good.
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