Democrats Complain - Part II
Pop, Soda & Coke -- Adding new flavors to the Democratic Party
Recently, when I wrote Democrats Complain (Part I), my focus was on the Schumer-led “coastal strategy” that must be changed if Democrats are to expand their base.
Now Democrats complain, saying we need a new strategy. New DNC Chairman Ken Martin has one.
Martin’s strategy is to broaden the Democratic base — a good thing, indeed. Need evidence? See his Town Halls held across fifty states, the new Daily Blueprint, and his progress on stirring up the DNC’s Rules & By-Laws Committee. More Town Halls are coming.
What Martin’s strategy needs is a name. We could call it “Appreciating Geography,” “Reaching out to Everybody,” or, with a bit of tongue in cheek, we might call it a strategy celebrating the differences between “pop, soda, & coke.”
For now, let’s try, “pop, soda, & coke.” It's probably just a nickname, but yes, you got it—“pop, soda, & coke” offer something, i.e., the same stuff, for everyone. However, depending on where we live, we call the drinks differently based on our region.
The DNC wants to be clear: Democratic policies are for everyone. We’re not one-size-fits-all. Sometimes we speak differently, wear cowboy hats, farmer caps, or other things, but we care about the same policies.
We only talk about them differently.
Now that we’ve started talking to everyone (not just the folks on the coasts), the words we use matter more. “pop” for the Midwest, “soda” for the East, and “coke” for the South. These words are really synonyms, used as a generic for asking people what they want to drink.
We Americans often know, and care, about many of the same things, but we talk about them differently, e.g.,
Eastern: What I learned in college about climate change… (science language) vs.
Midwest/Mountain West: The land doesn’t hold water as well; seasons seem to be off somehow, definitely changing and less predictable; we need to build back the land … (practical experience).
Eastern: Medicaid is for the poor vs.
Midwest/Mountain West: Many of our middle-class families cannot afford healthcare without Medicaid … (average incomes are lower).
People don’t like to admit they are poor. They have pride.
Loss of Medicaid means closing rural hospitals and losing rural jobs.
Once again, when we think of pop/soda/coke, we need to consider the region of the country we’re in when reaching out to people to persuade them. We should also be attuned to local dialects and do a better job of listening. Local examples are often more meaningful. Fitting in is helpful. Using a few local words can lend you credibility, showing that you know how to listen and understand.
Years ago, a campaign manager, friend of mine, was running a presidential campaign in Iowa. He was from New York. He knew he sounded different, and he also knew he didn’t quite fit in, yet he didn’t want this to interfere with gathering support for his candidate.
Every time he gave a speech, he admitted he was from New York, that Iowans knew some things he didn’t, but that working together, they could make a difference. He began each speech with a line like, “I know you know I’m from New York, and I don’t know everything about Iowa, so I’ll need your help.” Then he would smile and ask, “So tell me, is this where you wear the cowboy hats or the farmer caps?”
Everyone would laugh. The ice was broken. So, lesson learned — how we talk, even at the beginning, matters.
Many of us don’t want to be called poor, but we still need Medicaid. Farmers must be credited for understanding their land; blaming them for the soil needing more attention does not work — the USDA told them what to do, and now we know the USDA was wrong in its original directions, but this leads to more news to share.