Three Mistakes in the Democrats’ State of the Union Response
In two recent stories, I discussed 10 keys (5 keys; 5 more) for challenging Donald Trump.
In the most publicized Democratic speech of the year so far, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer responded to Trump’s State of the Union address.
Whitmer repeated some of the same mistakes that I pointed out were made by the Clinton campaign. Here are 3.
1) She referred to Trump’s rhetoric (key #3).
“Bullying people on Twitter doesn’t fix bridges. It burns them.”
An opposing candidate (or party) should not refer to Trump’s off-color remarks. On one hand, Trump’s off-color remarks get so much publicity that most voters who would care have already heard them. On the other hand, many voters simply do not care about off-color remarks.
Worse, Whitmer’s reference to them was vague: “Bullying people on Twitter…” So, even a voter who hadn’t seen the tweets would not have been informed by the reference.
But the biggest problem with mentioning Trump’s off-color remarks is that it gives voters the heuristic that Trump is strong on the issues — issues voters care more about (e.g., the economy, national security) than Twitter insults — because his opponents must resort to criticizing his rhetoric, not his performance or positions on the issues that matter.
And these mentions make it seem like, when Trump’s poll numbers drop, they are doing so because of the rhetoric — not because of incompetence.
It also gives voters reason to believe Trump’s promises about policies because voters do not hear criticisms about those as much. Each time criticisms about his rhetoric get played on the news, criticisms about his policies do not.
Instead, call Trump out on unkept promises and policy failures.
2) She reminded voters of Trump’s boasts about the economy and the stock market without rebutting them (key #2).
“It doesn’t matter what the President says about the stock market.”
“So when the president says the economy is strong…”
The stock market and the economy are both tremendously important to voters. The economy is often the most important issue for voters. And more than half of Americans own stock.
Whitmer’s remarks remind voters of Trump’s boasts without rebutting them. This reinforces the message Trump is trying to get across — that he is stronger than his opponents on the economy and the stock market.
Democrats might think that, with these remarks, they’re gaining support from the poor. But by ceding the economy and stock market, they lose many in the middle-class and wealthy demographics. Poor individuals, as well, are concerned about the economy and the stock market because many poor individuals plan to be wealthy.
What’s more, the acquiescence is inconsistent with a lot of evidence.
Democrats have historically presided over stronger economies and stock markets.
Go toe-to-toe with Trump on both the economy and stock market. This can be done while also advocating for lower-income people. For example, argue that the economy does better under Democrats because the poor and middle class have more financial security and consumer confidence, and the stock market follows.
And remind voters of Democrats’ historical track record on the economy and stock market and economists’ preferences for the Democratic plan. That offers voters a heuristic allowing them to think that Democrats are stronger on these all-important issues.
3) She passed up an opportunity to attack the right on corporate interests (key #5).
In her speech, Whitmer mentioned health care and climate change. These are both issues on which corporations are weighing in with considerable influence in order to benefit themselves at the expense of others.
Notably, Democrats are not just better for the poor on these issues — they’re better for the middle class and wealthy as well.
When pharmaceutical companies donate to Republicans in order to keep drug prices high, the wealthy who do not belong to that industry are not benefited.
Likewise, when the fossil fuel industry donates to Republicans, their more lax policies (and resulting global warming) do not benefit the wealthy that do not belong to the industry.
This gives an opportunity to strike a distinction between Democrats and Republicans on these issues: Democrats are better for the people; Republicans are better for the corporate interests.
It suggests Democrats and Republicans differ on these issues because Republicans are being bribed.
It gives Democrats moral high ground in a way that merely emphasizing that Democrats are better for the poor does not. It appeals to a voter’s sense of justice, whereas emphasizing that Democrats are better for the poor appeals to a voter’s sense of empathy, and Democrats are already getting most of the empathy voters.
In sum:
Do not refer to Trump’s rhetoric. Focus on the issues.
Do not cede perceived strength on the economy or stock market. Emphasize the record.
And discuss Republicans as having been bribed by corporate interests on issues such as health care and global warming.
