It is well understood by communications experts that fear is an extremely powerful emotion to reverse. The RNC is executing a powerful national campaign of fear, based mostly on ISIL and Ebola. It is grounded in their national and local messaging strategy that government doesn't work, especially an Obama/Pelosi government.
The DNC, by our own Chair's pronouncement a few months back, has no national branding or messaging strategy. Premise for the 2014 cycle...all politics are local. That premise has been pretty well debunked a few years back with the Gingrich Contract With America campaign.
So, the DNC's major message to us, without reminders as to the central idea our party stands for, send money. Lots of it. Send more money. Our fear message? The Republicans are coming. Some of it is actually being used by local Democratic campaigns to denounce their own party and its accomplishments of late.
So, America, be very much afraid. No reminders from the DNC that we have mostly contained radical Islam to their middle eastern back yard and kept you safe in your own American back yard and are vigilant on that mission. No reminders that Ebola is contained in west Africa and we are actively assisting infected countries to contain the disease there and bolstering our defenses here.
Yes, memories are short. America is seldom reminded that in the meantime, this Democratic President and a Democratic congress literally saved the world economy from collapse, introduced monumental healthcare reform to provide care for millions previously abandoned, ended two horrific wars and has made great progress toward restoring a job market that was in collapse.
The national media, even alternative and social media has been allowed to fixate on fear, relentless fear mongering on ISIL and Ebola, with an ineffective PR and public information effort from the DNC and our Administration.
Local media has been bombarded with disparate and uncoordinated Democratic candidate and pathetically little local Party messaging on a myriad of issues, largely overwhelmed by the audience/readership building stories about ISIL and Ebola. In the meantime, local Republican messaging programs have been much better synced with the RNC messaging program.
Save a possible "October Surprise" from the Obama Administration, I see little prospect of averting a Republican bloodbath and little prospect of a sizable Democratic turnout. Maybe the magical new targeting vehicles to mobilize our Democratic majority will kick in with highly motivating messages to get us off our couches. But less than a month out, I see and read little evidence of this.
There's plenty of evidence that fear will mobilize the Republican base and paralyze some of the Democratic base.
I hope I'm wrong. I really hope.
