Branding the Democrats. Here's a suggestion.

[bklyncowgirl]

I've been hearing alot of talk about "Branding" lately. Since we know that Americans like to think of themselves as a positive thinking can-do people, how about presenting the Democrats as the "Can Do" party. Sort of take Reagan's "Morning in America" and stand it on its head. Here's an example.

Cue somber music and pictures of various well known Republicans.

"There are those who say we are beset with forces beyond our control." (Picture of New Orleans under water and a Brownie in a FEMA jacket)
"There are those who say we are surrounded by evil." (Picture of Bin Laden and the words still free)
"There are those who say that American workers cannot compete in the world market and must accept a lower standard of living." (Picture of a closed factory)

Cue upbeat music.

We're the Democratic party and we believe that there are solutions. (Flags waving, high tech factories humming, scientists poring over test tubes)
"We believe that American workers deserve an honest days pay for an honest day's work." (happy worker)
"We believe that Americans can have the best healthcare system in the world" (Docs & nurses with patients)
"We believe that America is strongest when she works with other countries toward common goals."
"We believe that our spirit of innovation can be unleashed to find solutions to high oil and gas prices and free us from dependence on foreign oil and stop global warming" Picture of workers building solar panels, hybrid cars and SUVS.
We overcame the Great Depression, (Picture of a WPA crew) We defeated the greatest evil the world has ever known. (Picture of American forces liberating a concentration camp), we opened space to human exploration (Kennedy making his man on the moon announcement and Neil Armstrong)

We're the Democratic party and we believe in the future.

[AntiCoup2K4]

1. Nice vision but.....

....can it all fit in a 30 second TV ad?

[bklyncowgirl]

23. Hey, I'm a librarian not an ad producer. I dunno whether it'll fit.

My idea was that the Democrats need to position themselves as the party of hope, of innovation and the old fashioned American values of fairness, strength and hard work.

Here's another thought. Could you imagine John Wayne fighting on the side of the cattle barons? Zorro working for the evil Governor to oppress the Campesinos? Jimmy Stewart making billions in the real estate market and evicting widows and orphans?

America's heroes have always fought for the rights of the little guy. Democrats should take advantage of that.

[MrBenchley]

2. Have you seen some of Oliver Willis' stuff?

http://www.oliverwillis.com/branddemocrat/

[texpatriot2004]

18. Brand Democrat is the best I've seen. nm

[MrBenchley]

25. I love the "Warmed Up" shirt....

http://www.cafepress.com/branddem.19381926

[Ediacara]

3. I've actually been thinking of something very similar

And what got me thinking was (strangely enough) a new ad for Miller beer! It's a series of scenes from the 20th century with upbeat music and a voice over saying, "I was there..." about varuious scenes pictured in the ad. Every time I see it, I become optomistic, and it's amazing. The ad is very similar in feel to what you've laid out above, and makes me feel very warm and optomistic.

[sandnsea]

4. That's odd

Miller beer usually creates ads to appeal to right wingers. Wonder what they've got up their sleeve, probably going to try co-opting the FDR programs with some revisionism and make them right wing patriotic. Have to keep an eye on that. Otherwise, yes you're right and I had hoped we would have done this last year. 100 Years of Progress, Brought To You By The Democratic Party. The Revolution, Brought To You By The New England Sons Of Liberty. Stuff like that and we still need to do it.

[Ediacara]

7. Ya, I thought it was weird too

But it's a very shiny happy ad nonetheless.

[newswolf56]

5. Great start! With what you've already assembled -- considering it as...

the basics of an entire campaign -- a good solid tie-everything-together slogan might be:

We're the Democratic Party and we believe in America.

Each of the topics -- jobs, healthcare, the environment etc. -- could be separate 30-second spots and tied-in full-page print ads.

Good thinking.

[sandnsea]

8. Believe in America tour?

Funny thing, I think we had one of those last year and Democrats said nobody knew what Democrats or the Kerry campaign stood for. Just sayin'

Believe in America
By Senator John F. Kerry

Believe the courage of Americans can change this country.

Believe the idealism of Americans can match our power to the world and to our principles and to our history as a nation.

Believe the patriotism of Americans can show that the flag of United States does not belong to any President or party, it does not belong to any ideology, it belongs to all of us as Americans.

Believe the genius of Americans can make us energy independent.

Believe the conscience of Americans can guard our fundamental liberties and preserve them for generations to come.

Believe the vision of Americans can save our environment, raise up our schools, and open health care to all.

The conscience of Americans can guard our fundamental liberties and preserve them for generations to come. The resolve of Americans can make the difference. Your courage can help us to do what is right for America. Let's go out and get it done!

http://www.success.org/AP/others/550.shtml

[Cocoa]

9. Kerry had a good line about optimisim in 2004

he said, addressing Bush, what's "optimistic" about saying this is the best we can do?

[Cocoa]

10. "the party of performance"

Feingold used that in a speech recently, said the dems should be the party of performance.

[sandnsea]

11. That's good too

We Deliver.

[meow2u3]

19. My slogan

Republicans promise but don't deliver.
Democrats deliver what they promise.

[sandnsea]

6. That's exactly right

We need a whole branding campaign that doesn't deal with any particular hot button issue or program, but paints a larger picture of America, the future, and leaving a standard of living for our chldren as good as the one we got from our parents.

[newswolf56]

14. One problem with that -- a very big problem -- is that "leaving...

a standard of living for our children as good as the one we got from our parents" is impossible. Period. No exceptions.

The reason is a combination of factors: peak oil and the resultant impending total collapse of the global economy; the spread of Fundamentalism (whether Christian as in the USA or Islamic as elsewhere) and the resultant obstructions to science and scientific research; destruction of the environment (not only will Katrina-type storms become ever more commonplace, but all coastal cities will be drowned within a century); concentration of wealth -- and the ever-more-savage refusal of the wealthy to share that wealth.

For all these reasons and more, the struggles of the future will be class struggles, no-quarter battles over the allocation of increasingly scarce resources: what we saw in New Orleans is merely the beginning.

Thus the absolute necessity of restoring the New Deal: government as protector and defender of the people against "ALL enemies foreign and domestic" -- especially the fascist tyranny that is the logical expression of capitalism and the tyrannosauric greed of the capitalists.

Yet even if we win, we will never have it as good as our parents had it: the resources no longer exist, and because of the limited resources -- especially peak oil -- the creation of new wealth that characterized the Industrial Revolution will never again be such a factor in human history.

But we CAN make life in America fairer than it has ever been; by forcing the oligarchy to share the wealth they now ever-more-greedily hoard, we can have everything we so desperately need: universal health care; universal re-training for people whose jobs are downsized or outsourced; universally adequate pay; universally adequate stipends for the disabled and the elderly; universal education through the college level (just as Europe has had for decades); affordable food, transportation and housing; real workplace democracy (by revitalization of the union movement); true protection of the environment (by national recognition that "sustainability" -- in other words, eco-socialism --is the only economy the planet will tolerate). We can do all this and more -- and if we are to survive as a species, we MUST do it.

I think it is precisely because of the magnitude of the task facing us -- a task that includes fostering the monumental paradigm shift from trinket materialism to environmental sanity -- that the Democratic leadership is mostly silent. I think it is a stunned silence: realization that we have used up all our slack -- that now is moment in which we decide what kind of a future we will have.

Unfortunately just now there is only one future offered: the Republican future of ever-worsening socioeconomic inequality and ever-more-vicious fascist tyranny to protect the wealthy: New Orleans as prophecy. This is the future offered by the elite, whether Republican or Democratic: a future in which the corporations become our feudal lords and manorial overseers -- and all the rest of us are reduced to abject serfdom.

But beyond the Democratic silence, two Democrats have dared speak out: Albert Gore Jr. on the absolute necessity of accepting the limits imposed by our environment and learning to live within them, John Edwards on the equally absolute necessity of bringing back the New Deal and thus restoring the American promise of socioeconomic justice.

At the very least Gore and Edwards have pointed out the direction. Now perhaps it is up to us -- the real working people, the grassroots, "we the people" -- to map the path and navigate it.

[meow2u3]

20. An idea: 5 distinct visuals

The Democratic Party: protecting Americans against all enemies, foreign (with Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Hitler, Stalin, or Mussolini in the background) AND domestic (featuring Bush, DeLay, Rove, Frist, or Cheney in the background).

[newswolf56]

21. Absolutely. This is part of the essential paradigm shift:

fostering the recognition that capitalism is intrinsically exploitative and unavoidably environmentally destructive -- and that therefore its representatives are implicitly tyrannical -- that Bush et al MUST be tyrants to protect the exploiters/destroyers and to perpetuate the exploitation/destruction.

Equally vital to the paradigm shift is the task of re-exposing the now-deliberately buried historical truth of class struggle: the malevolent why behind the savage hows of capitalism. With this re-exposure will come renewed understanding that (from the perspective of capitalism), what the New Deal did was every bit as dangerous as the Communist Revolution -- acknowledgment of the truth of class struggle while simultaneously proclaiming the feasibility of NON-violent revolution via the principles of the U.S. Constitution: the real reason the Republicans have sought to destroy the New Deal since its inception.

The most important aspect of this paradigm shift however is redefining what "good living" means: changing it to something healthy from the psychologically devastating and environmentally ruinous obsessions of trinket materialism -- obsessions fueled by the destruction and prohibition of community essential to capitalist exploitation, by the yawning spiritual emptiness inflicted by the Abrahamic religions: both the infinite hostility toward Nature and the terrifying promise of eternal damnation.

This shift will be the hardest one, the challenge that will determine our success or failure: just as economic security depends on the protections provided by government, so does emotional security depend on the restoration of genuine community -- community in the broadest and oldest sense (with Nature as a full partner) -- a restoration that will inevitably flourish once basic human needs are truly fulfilled. But how do you convince a people so achingly empty they trust only trinkets to set aside their bright baubles? How do you convince them to embrace the now-truly inconceivable promise of the less ostentatious but far more fulfilling rewards of life in a society that is secure both economically and emotionally? This is our task.

[bklyncowgirl]

24. I think too that this is where innovation comes in.

Anyone who's read a little science fiction or watched a few episodes of Star Trek can think of ways in which the future can be better than what we have now.

Right now we have a massive waste of our intellectual capacity. Who's to say that the brilliant girl who wants to study engineering but can't afford the tuition and so has to settle for something more practical won't be the person who could have made the breakthrough that enables safe, affordable fuel cell technology.

Or maybe it might be the guy who wants to start his own company to market his ideas but has several young kids and is afraid of not being able to afford health insurance. So he keeps on designing the sort of gas guzzlers his employer wants when with a little help he might be on his own developing something that could put the Germans and the Japanese to shame.

Republicans love to say the support entrepeneurship but the truth is they serve the needs of the massive inert dinosaurs of our corporate world.

[calmblueocean]

12. "We're the Democratic party, and we believe in the future."

I like the tagline. The ad itself is a bit too 'on-the-nose' for me, but the general theme is really good. Another line for me to write down, along with "America needs a raise".

[bluedawg12]

13. Being an American - The New Millennium Democrat.

This is my whack at an up dated riff on John Kerry's:Believe in America

Being an American
By The New Millennium Democrat

American courage: the sentinel of liberty, sealed with American blood and self sacrifice.

American might: power balanced with integrity. A strong and capable military and gratitude to those who serve with honor so that this great and free nation may stand in pride and freedom.

American patriotism: love of country, respect for the flag- paid for by the blood of hero’s, and honoring our troops who serve today and vowing that veterans who have answered the call, will not be forgotten.

American ingenuity: taking us from outer space to energy independence. Rich ideas and novel solutions, born and nurtured in freedom, will prevail.

American fairness: preserving and promoting human rights and freedoms for all Americans. The strong protect the weak, the many will not trample on the few. Every American, every individual counts.

American values: stewardship of the environment, valuing education for our kids to raise them up through knowledge and discovery, elevating all Americans to prosperity with good jobs and trusted long term benefits, and ensuring access to great health care.

American support for the ideals of liberty, equality and opportunity. This is the land that many have chosen as their adopted home, and from the farms of the great plains to the steel mill cities, they came for the American Dream and have found a welcoming home and freedom from tyranny.

Now is the time.

Now is the time for American strength.
Now is the time to be secure in our homes and lives and jobs.
Now is the time to ensure for ourselves and for our families, that the ideals of democracy and freedom that we cherish and many have given so much for, will endure.

The New Millennium Democratic Party- together we are stronger than apart, Americans united for prosperity, opportunity, and strength.

[AntiFascist]

15. What about branding Dems. as the party nearest to the intentions...

of the Founding Fathers, since the republicans have moved so far to the radical right? The Enlightened party that believes in a secular society, with images of Washington, the authors of the Constitution, and the true fighters for freedom throughout history. Even Lincoln might have changed his party affiliation at this point.

[DrFunkenstein]

16. "Morning in America" Wasn't A Laundry List

I think it is a mistake to try to squeeze so much information into an advertisement. Ads aren't about information. Information is what they tell you in a whisper about how many ways the product can kill you.

Ads are about emotion, not logic. Unfortunately, the Kerry campaign never got that. Logic is for web debates.

The less ideas you put into an ad the better. The more you work upon the desires and imaginations of people, the more you punch them in the gut, the more effective will be that 30 seconds.

Because that is where you have to hit Americans. If it was about the head, we would win everytime. But Americans don't think politically with their brains. Reagan understood that. Actually, Reagan personified that.

But, at the same time, trying to rehash Morning in America isn't going to work either. It was a different day and age. We need an equivalent (or better) not a regurgitation.

[bluedawg12]

17. Campaigns are about media and the message- which,as you say,

is emotional.

The 30 second sound bite.

Party philsophy is where ideas are laid out in detail.

Ads allude to philosophy- I agree, it's about the emotions.

The other thing that Kerry and even Dean forgot was that every utterance on the trail becomes a news sound bite. And it is out of the control of the campaign.

When I heard, " I voted for it, then I voted against it.." I cringed, I knew immediatly those words would be edited into a haunting sound bite.

Like wise: Yee-haw.

TV is a cool medium. Not too many emotions, even facial expressions, little fascial motion, and an even tone of voice.

...........

OK, I took my long speech post and shortened it:

Here is my TV spot fantasy Democratic Presidential ad based on the longer speech that I wrote above:
.......

Cue soaring music heavy on brass. Ex: Star Wars or Return of the King, grand.

Shot: Blue skies, pan back to large flag waving in the wind.:patriot:

Voice over: Now is the time.

Cut to: troops in Iraq.
Voice over: Now is the time for American strength.

Cut to: troops coming home.
Voice over: Now is the time to be secure in our homes and lives and jobs.

Cut to: factory gate with chain and sign: “closed”
Voice over: Now is the time for good jobs and trusted long term benefits.

Cut to: Great action shot of our winning, dynamic, attractive, funny, brilliant, liberal, Presidential candidate.

Voice over: Together we are stronger than apart, Americans united for prosperity, opportunity, and strength.

Cut to: Name of candidate
Voice over: Vote I.Q. Public, for President.

Then: I am I.Q. Public and I approved this message.

............

The three themes I tried to hit, national security, respect for the troops, and coming back to a lousy economy and no jobs.
..........

just a pipe dream, I'll keep my day job. LOL.

[TayTay]

22. Mine would be to emphasize the idea, 'Are WE better off now'

Show some quick montage pictures of Iraq and some pictures of the aftermath of Katrina. (If it can fit, a few pics of closed factories and people who are suffering through foreclosures and such.

"Are WE really better off than we were 5 years ago? The Rpublicans think so."

Maybe a pic or two of some Haliburton. Some Wall Street types celebrating another 'deal' that ships jobs to another country, but is good for them personally.

Then some sort of appeal to building a better nation, not just enriching a chosen few.

Whatver happened to 'United we stand?' Vote Democratic. It's about, "We the People' creating a better nation together. Together we can rebuild our nation, make it stronger in the world and at home and make sure that no one is left behind."