Nancy Pelosi: Oh, I Just Figured Out Why We Lost. Messaging.

Deficient messaging is the new last refuge of the scoundrel.

In a letter sent to fellow Democratic lawmakers Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California expresses confidence that she will be elected minority leader and calls for the party to “further modernize” and “communicate” the message that helped them win the House in 2006.

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Her focus on message implies that Democrats lost at least 60 seats and the House because of a failure to communicate effectively about the agenda the party delivered rather than public disapproval of the policies. It’s an argument that may resonate well with House Democrats who blame the White House for not putting enough energy into honing and promoting public relations campaigns in support of major legislative items.

"In addition, we must build the capacity for effectively communicating our message of job creation and opportunity for all, while supporting our signature achievements of health care, Wall Street reform, and Social Security and Medicare," she wrote. "In the 2006 election with our ‘New Direction’ and ‘6 for 06’ message, we spoke with great clarity and unity — and we won. Now, we must further modernize not only that message but the way in which we communicate with constituents."

This is getting silly. The problem isn't that the public didn't know what Democrats stand for, but rather that they did. No matter how many times Democrats tried to obscure that -- claiming to vote x% with John Boehner, claiming to have personally voted for John McCain in '08, refusing to identify themselves as Democrats at all, shooting a damn rifle through a mock up of the Cap and Tax bill -- they still lost. (Well, not the guy shooting a rifle but you get what I mean.)

And it wasn't just that that, of course. It was that the public told Democrats not to vote for ObamaCare as loudly and as directly as possible, and Democrats told them to go hang themselves.

This will not do. They work for us and not vice versa. We tell them the agenda and not vice versa.

Democrats are so arrogant and so disdainful of the public's beliefs and aspirations that even at this point they do not understand that, nor why giving a finger to the "Little People" was such a damaging move.

Deep in their hearts they really conceive of America along the lines of Brave New World, with a caste devoted to thinking, a caste devoted to doing, and a caste devoted to consuming.

They decided they would do the thinking for us despite the fact that we never actually asked them to take on this burden and in fact told them that we resented their even offering to do so. Let alone simply taking the responsibility from us against our will, against our wishes, and over our angry complaints.

ObamaCare must be repealed not just as disastrous policy but as an oligarchical insult to the entire idea of American democracy.

We heard your message, Nancy. Your message was "You don't count; what you think doesn't matter."

There is no way to sell that message to a nation that still has, by your way of thinking, antiquated and boorish notions about self-governance.

Thanks to Monty.

posted by Ace at 03:49 PM

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