Would running on a pledge to break up the near-monopolies of mega-corporations in industries

[Atticus]

like broadcast and print media, banking, internet services, social media and energy be a wise or foolish approach to the 2020 election?

[Egnever]

1. In my opinion that is what brought about Howard Deans downfall.

Quick google search to bring up info on it got me this. I pretty much agree with these paragraphs.

On December 1, 2003, Howard Dean was ahead by twenty points in the polls when he appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews and said, "We're going to break up the giant media enterprises." This pronouncement went far beyond the governor's previous public musings about possibly re-regulating the communications industry, and amounted to a declaration of war on the corporations that administer the flow of information in the United States.

It was an extraordinarily noble and dangerous thing to do: when he advocated a truly free press, Dr. Dean was provoking the corrupt media conglomerates that control what most Americans see and hear and read, and thereby control what most Americans think.

The media giants quickly responded by crushing his high-flying campaign with the greatest of ease. This time, they didn't even have to invent a scandal in order to achieve the desired result; merely by chanting the word "unelectable" at maximum volume, the mainstream media maneuvered Democratic voters into switching their support to someone who poses no threat to the status quo.

http://www.rense.com/general49/media.htm

[elleng]

3. and got the 'ear' of Dem party, it appears.

[elleng]

2. Worked for TR.

Someones have dropped the ball, in 'recent' years.

[BigmanPigman]

4. I just filled out my DNC survey

and that was on one of the questions. Is that why you mentioned it?
They asked which issues I thought the Dems should use most as a campaign issue. I chose "all of the above" but I wrote that affordable health care, the tax scam hurting average voters, DACA, and gun control, and Trump corruption (in that order) should be the focus. Over 50% of all voters support these issues. I think abortion should be on the back burner...took divisive right now.

[kacekwl]

5. Great idea but very

hard at this point. Can't put the toothpaste back in the tube.

[northremembers]

6. It's the wrong approach

Most people are uneasy thinking about how few people run our economy and control our access to everything. They would rather tune out the message than rally behind the cause. While most people support competition as an abstract idea, people see breaking up large businesses as unstable. Mainstream voter issues center around daily living. Most people want to access information from a reputable source and move on to the rest of their daily tasks.

To rally mainstream voters you need to thoroughly communicate how your cause will produce more opportunity for advancement for them. This is where the Republicans start for every issue in every election. You would also need to do this in a system controlled by the media trusts you want to break up. Even bigger than that, if you succeeded in breaking up the media trusts your ability to get a message out to the majority of voters would be equally reduced.