Commentary

Elections Are About Marketing, Not Policy -- Will Dems Ever Get That?

by James Forr , Op-Ed Contributor, December 13, 2024

In 2018, I went off to Washington to meet the wonderful wizard of Democratic voter research. Any research agency that aspired to help the party needed this man’s approval and blessing.

Our work explores people’s unconscious minds and reveals psychological insights that polls and focus groups cannot. Many corporate marketing …

campaigns, marketing, politics, research

2 comments about "Elections Are About Marketing, Not Policy -- Will Dems Ever Get That?".

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M Gingrich from GI, December 16, 2024 at 9:01 a.m.
LOL - becasue the marketing path (aka non-truths) worked great when used: Build Back Better, Inflation Reduction Act, handing the press scripts, Beyonce, etc..

To paraphrase Ogilvy, "The citizen is not a moron. She's your wife". First and foremost what was needed was a competent candidate - not one that was obviously a plant and who talked down to voters (and world leaders) the past four years.
Reply

Andrew Bloom from Andy Bloom Communications, December 21, 2024 at 8:06 p.m.

It's about marketing the right policies, and always has been. Who can forget "The Selling of The President," by Joe McGinniss?

Democrats didn't just have a marketing problem. The doubled down on policies that led to 70% of voters saying the country was heading in the wrong direction. Democrats had a candidate problem. Harris spent the first two months hiding from the media. When she finally did media interviews she hurt herself even on softball questions. "Nothing comes to mind." Harris said she was the change candidate but couldn't think of one thing she would have done differently.

The Trump campaign used its research to target persuadable voters.

Finally, Biden was nowhere close to the same position as Reagan in 84. Could Biden have run "Morning in America"? Reagan tamed inflation. Biden unleashed it for the first time in 40 years. Reagan bought respect back to the United States. Biden couldn't make the same argument. Reagan was the "Great Communicator." Even before his cognitive decline, Biden was known as a gaffe machine.

Democrats know how to market. They believed hating Trump was enough in 2024. They were wrong with a historically bad candidate.