It’s The Messaging, Stupid January 31, 2025 Kris M: “This from Thom Hartmann is must reading. We need to understand what it means to be the opposition party and start actually opposing!” If Obama Had Sent a Mob to Kill a Cop, Republicans Would Never Let You Forget It The GOP would be screaming “Cop Killer” every single day — so why aren’t Democrats holding Trump to the same standard? . . . Next week the DNC will have a new chair, who will hopefully provide solid and aggressive leadership. Because the key to Democratic success over the next two (and four) years is pretty simple: Messaging. First, Democrats must frame the fight in simple, moral terms. From the Civil Rights era to the War in Vietnam, there was a time when my party knew how to do this; lately, it seems they’ve all fallen asleep (with a few rare exceptions). Instead of saying, “We need to expand social safety net programs,” they should say, as Lyndon Johnson often did, “No child in America should go to bed hungry.” Their next sentence should add, “But childhood hunger is just fine with Republicans trying to protect tax cuts for their Mar-a-Lago billionaires.” Second, Democrats should stop playing defense and instead seize the populist high ground. FDR knew how to do this and delighted in it. In one speech, referring to the morbidly rich of his day, he said, “They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred.” In today’s social media politics if you’re not fighting as if it’s war, you’re losing. Instead of arguing for “fair” taxation, say, “Trump wants to kill your healthcare and torch your kid’s school to pay for his billionaire tax cuts!” . . . He makes eight points — those are just the first two. Our team should read them all. Meanwhile . . . Trump, Without Citing Evidence, Blames D.E.I. and Democrats for Plane Crash “Despicable.” PS One of you who read yesterday’s ParkerVision post suggested that if it came to light that someone from the Obama administration did pressure the judge to throw out the unanimous $173 million jury verdict, then the case could be reopened. (The current cases are for separate patent claims.) So that could be another pile of money — plus 11 or 12 years’ interest. Not that I’m for a moment expecting this . . . but it’s fun to dream.