May 02, 2005
Bush II; Day 178: Defining Democrats
The Talent Show does a good job of pointing to a few worthy blog posts here.
The subject: how should Democrats "brand" themselves.
This is interesting to me, because I really didn't like the highest level branding at the California Democratic Party State Convention last month. It was: "Protecting Real People."
Find out why it didn't strike a chord with me in the extended entry...
Look, my point isn't what that tagline is supposed to evoke. Intellectually I can appreciate that it's supposed to appeal to our instincts to stick up for the little guy, the underdog.
But the point of branding is to appeal to the emotions or instinct, not the brain. And when they displayed that tagline accompanied by pictures of the elderly, nurses, firefighters, construction workers and even teachers, I didn't see me...or most of the folks I know in Silicon Valley... represented.
I'm not a senior, a service worker, a public servant or even a parent. Apparently I'm not a "real" person. I'm a single woman who is a consultant with my own business, and before I did that I was in high-tech marketing. As a small business owner I might be statistically more likely to create jobs, but I'm not a "real" person.
I felt alienated every single time I heard that tagline or saw it. Even though intellectually I got the point, I still felt alienated. And that ain't good, folks. How are we going to broaden our base if our message is only inclusive to certain kinds of people, as worthy as they may be.
Now the debate that I pointed to at the beginning of this post is over a similar catch phrase: "Democrats are the party for people who work for a living." And I find it equally off-putting.
Because both phrases assume that certain people are by definition less worthy based on something as superficial as how much money they have or what kind of job they have.
Why aren't we appealing to the character of the people in our tent, not the occupation?
How about:
"Democrats are the party for people who care about liberty and justice for all."
or
"Democrats...building a better America for the next generation."
It would certainly make me feel better about being a Democrat, how about you?