MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

By Democratic Means

Problem Statement: Democrats can’t present an effective populist campaign and are widely criticized for poor messaging. Meantime, MAGA tries to own the libs AND tries to own patriotic language! The MAGA movement has co-opted key words and symbols, the very same symbols and words which formerly referred to American historical values and goals. Democrats can’t mount an effective campaign because they can’t find the words. Those words have been taken over by a coalition of fringe groups who, for their many diverse reasons, support Trumpism.

Co-optation (or just “cooptation”): Philip Selznick (1949) coined this term to refer to a political process found in formally democratic systems, used as a way of managing opposition and neutralizing those who threaten essential commitments or goals. Under Trump the MAGA movement has effectively rallied a sizable minority of Americans to support Trump by using symbols and words that have always been associated with American patriotism.

It used to be that patriotic Americans, of any political party, would fly American flags on their homes, on public buildings, and even on their vehicles. We used to see neo-confederates flying the Civil War era Confederate flags in the same ways to show their opposition to liberal democratic values (or just plain opposition).

Nowadays when you see an American flag in any context, you immediately think MAGA. Also in political speeches and advertisements we see Trump supporters using all the traditional democratic words and symbols while putting forward policies that are almost the exact opposite of our Founders’ intentions, the Constitution, and long-standing post-WWII practices. Not only is this effective at generating support for their messages, at the same time it effectively blunts messages that formerly constituted Democratic rallying calls. The MAGA movement has essentially re-defined the clarion calls of a free and just society to now mean (as in Orwell) just exactly what they want those words and symbols to mean.

Democrats can’t find a persuasive message because nowadays they can’t find the words! Understanding the cooptation of words and symbols by one political movement gives them an unfair advantage, and constitutes an important weapon in the effort by wealthy, influential people to capture the State apparatus and turn it to their own uses. Understanding the cooptation of liberal democratic language helps understand that the MAGA movement attack is not just an effort to win an election. This cooptation is nothing less than an effort to dismantle the liberal democratic Nation and restore oligarchy to the guiding principle of our nation.

One important thing Democrats must do in the midterm elections and in 2028 is to reclaim the words and symbols long associated with liberal democracy, American progressivism, patriotism and equal justice for all. Democrats must unabashedly re-claim the values and the language of the post-FDR era, and must speak forcefully on behalf of most Americans whose values align with the platform of the Democratic Party.

I’m not saying this is easy. Rich and influential people have a head start on co-opting liberal democratic language going back to the Nixon “Southern Strategy”, Reagan era definition of “government is the problem”, and the Tea Party anti-tax, anti-regulation movement. Democrats must avoid use of words favored by Bernie and AOC, words such as socialism and social welfare. The extreme Right has effectively defined those words as anti-American.

Democrats need to avoid engaging in distracting cultural issues, instead emphasizing Truth, Justice and the American Way. Democrats must press forward on economic issues and make the case that fairness for some generates fairness for all. Democrats must publicly take on the Right’s use of patriotic words and symbols and must specifically define those words for the public in terms of their original meanings. Democrats must put on display all the historical symbols of American exceptionalism, and must remind Americans of our greatest leaders’ beliefs.

Democrats must choose their words carefully!