THE REPUBLICANS LOST. WHO WON? – The Moderate Voice

by Don Hermann

It may not be the Democrats. You couldn’t tell that from their initial celebration. It may not be America. The jury just started deliberations. Don’t count your chickens. There’s still a lot of eggs to walk on.

As of this writing, there are 167 Election Deniers who have been elected in the House. That’s a lot of denying. Mr. Trump is still alive. And kicking. While the Democrats are dancing in the streets, they still may be out of step. Oh, I forgot to mention that the Republicans won the House. A small margin, but they won. A lot of potential damage there.

Many of the people who lost were hand picked by Trump. It was like a professional team playing a bunch of amateurs. And still the Democrats did not wipe the floor with them. That makes a strong statement about the so-called winners.

Let’s stay with the Democrats. Their flaws are not as apparent. But plentiful. Go back to the summer of 2021. The Republicans, concerned about their lack of numbers announced a policy to develop a strategy to gerrymander in states where they could dominate legislatures and Governorships. They could still be in a minority but wield a considerable amount of influence through winning Electoral votes.

Speaking of minorities, they were key to winning and losing elections. They tended to vote Democratic. The Republicans had to make it more difficult for them to vote. By succeeding, the Republicans could invalidate elections they lost and change or cancel laws passed by Congress that could impact a particular state. The result could last for decades.

The Democrats aware of the Republican strategy considered taking on the Republicans immediately. It was vacation time so rather than keeping on their business suits they opted for their bathing suits and took their traditional summer vacation. September would be plenty of time to deal with voting. It would be Number One on the Docket. Really?

Build Back Better became the Umbrella theme under which the Democrat’s used to promote and describe their offerings. There was one problem: the Public seemed to give one big yawn to the Democrat’s offerings. Millions spent on promotion and who cared? The love affair with that theme seemed to be cast aside with voting. People didn’t identify with the Democrat’s approach.

There was a continuous cry for more fire in the messaging. More quick response to deal with the roadblocks the Republicans were throwing down. More anticipation. No. The Democrats were going to listen to the pundits. Mid-term elections usually went the way of the opposing party. Biden’s poll ratings were testimony to that.

Of course the polls were reinforcing that belief. To back it up the liberal media was bolstering the message. It worked to their advantage. All the negative stuff, complaining and whining was drawing supporters like flies mto you know what. Pundits were coming out of the walls writing books and complimenting each other on jobs well done. Publishers at one time playing low man on the totem pole were climbing the ladder in joy and cash.

Pollsters were spitting out numbers daily. Putting meat on the bone for media types. Regardless of they’re missing the boat on their accuracy. Focus Groups were reinforcing the inaccuracies. But it gave the pundits credibility.

Trump was probably the best thing for many of these communicators. If not for him, many could possibly be on the breadline today.

There’s a lot of angry stuff here. You bet. I’m 88 and seen a lot. I’m an Ad guy. Sort of retired. But not really. I do have my marbles. Most of the time.

There’s a similarity between journalism and advertising. You’re telling stories. Facts are important. Understanding a situation you’re writing about is critical. Thoroughness is key. A lot has to be fixed here.

Going back to the summer of 2021, Priorities weren’t established to counter the Republicans’ plan of attack. Voting was the key to the door of passing the host of bills the Democrats’ were pushing. It was overlooked and Infrastructure, and a number of other bills took center stage and the problems accelerated.

Playing catch-up was the game of the day. It wasn’t until a month or so before the election that Obama and some of the other heavy hitters aggressively went out into the field to push voting.

You can say it worked. Look the Democrats won the Senate. But lost the House. A pleasant surprise. Right? Wrong.

In most cases, the competition was so weak, irresponsible and not suited to be US. Senators. It’s actually an embarrassment that the races were so close.

Let’s go a step further. The Democrats’ fund raising. It requires a carton full of Pepto to survive that fiasco. If I learned anything in advertising/selling, it’s that to be effective, make your appeal about your prospect. Not about yourself. Appeal should be involving, benefit oriented.

In spite of the amateurish, offensive, misleading nature of the emails, people sent in money. I believe it was the result of what Trump and the Republicans’ stood for. Not the Democrats’ message.

I can tell you the emails sounded anything like winners. Examples of their favorite requests: “We’re begging you on our hands and knees.” “We’re packing our bags.” “Goodbye.” All downers. Anything but hopeful, positive messages from people who want to lead.

What the Democrats overlooked was that any and all communications reflect the essence of an organization.

Trump pulled the strings and the media and Democrats’ danced. Why didn’t they two-step over to why Trump danced all over the place once he became president. They tip-toed around the possibility that his shenanigans were all about changing the music continuously to prevent Him from being found out. There were a lot of questions about his questionable background. How answers to those questions could put him in very questionable circustances. Remaining as President was his Coat of Armor. Along with his lies.

His saying “If I lose the election, I may have to leave the country.” Did anyone look under a rock there? Then when it got close to this past election he apparently said to some members of his staff “I have to win the election to keep from being indicted.” Why get your hands dirty looking under more rocks?

There’s much more but I will conclude by saying that another major issue I encountered was the Territorial Nature of the media, our politicians and most people involved in the election process.

They block almost every effort to reach them. Threats to the fragility of who they are? No winners there.

I’m an Ad guy. 88. Partly retired. But not really. I have my marbles. At least most of the time. My strength has been concepts. Ideas. Successfully implemented. Over the past few years I have developed ways for the Democrats to make the most of their advantages. To respond quickly. To stand out.To light a fire under people. To show fight. Had over 20 oped pieces in Connecticut papers in the last two years. During that time I reached out to my Senators, Congressman and the local Library, which is in trouble. All gave me one thing: a deaf ear. My belief is, the response is territorial. Protecting their territory. At the expense of new thinking which they feel could somehow compromise their position. Rather than help it. The following is one proposal sent to them:

DEMOCRACY DAY

A day of celebration. All people eligible can vote.

Brown, black, red, yellow, whatever color you are, even white, you’re welcome to join the party. Gay, straight, crooked, join the fun.

Catholic, Jew, Protestant, Muslin, Buddhist, you name it. Agnostic, Atheist, whatever, it’s you’re party too.

This is America. We’re all important. We’re all entitled. If we’re citizens, or conform to other criteria, we will be given equal opportunity to voice our opinion through the Vote.

The lines may be long, but at a party, who cares? It’s a holiday.

All this is a pipedream, right? What’s he smoking? The Freedom Pipe. It’s got Equal Rights all over it.

OK. Now you’re saying a law like this will never pass. Maybe so. But demonstrating is a right. This is America. If this is a celebration and professional athletes are taking the day off to join the fun, who’s stopping them?

And celebrities of all stripes will lend their celebrity to the special event.

There will be autographs, snacks, water, soft drinks, chairs, music, whatever you would expect from a party. Parents would bring their kids. Getting a taste of Democracy. Voting would be a family experience.

1t’s hard to imagine one person of color or immigrant, eligible to vote who won’t join the bash. If there’s a physical reason to hold you back, we’ll take you there and back.

This is not a sit on the sideline deal. No complaining allowed. Your vote is your ticket to freedom.

We’ll read from the constitution. We’ll read from history books about accurate events involving Slavery and the Holocaust. We’ll read and talk about people who are Gay. And celebrate the contributions of all different people of different backgrounds who make and made America the unique and wonderful country it is. For those folks who are unhappy we’ll invite them to leave and move to countries that might suit their needs like Russia or Iran or China.

In the meantime, we’ll cast our votes. For America. For Freedom. For opportunity. For being color blind to color of our fellow citizens’ skin.

We’ll celebrate the right to own a gun for straight shooters who obey the laws. And for women to have control over their own bodies. And most important we’ll celebrate the rebirth of honesty. And decency. And of Freedom to worship whatever God you believe in or no God. That’s America.