Those Dems

I've been railing pretty consistently about the Democrats being too analytical, working too hard at massaging/messaging instead of taking stands based on principle.

Don't get me wrong. I've been a member of the Democratic party for over thirty years. It pains me to see a group of people who are so passionate about helping people then act like a bunch of Madison Ave. knuckleheads. So I keep swinging away at trying to help my party.

I ran across this today from Arianna Huffington on how the Dems came up with their new slogan (do you know what it is?):

So here’s the story. A message team responsible for developing a unifying new theme for the party had come up with multiple slogans -- including “America Can do Better” (the “Together” was added later) and “A Stronger America Begins at Home” (and variants such as “Security Begins at Home”). Greenberg Quinlan Rosen Research was then hired to try out the competing slogans and see how people reacted.

According to a high-ranking party insider, “A Stronger America Begins at Home” tested 10 point higher than any other entry. So how did the Dems end up going with a losing slogan?

My source tells me that the leadership was afraid that the security-based slogan sounded too isolationist. Too America First. Too Pat Buchanan

Ok. So first of all. A group (probably relatively small group) of high ranking Democrats gets together to come up with a slogan. They come up with pretty paltry selections. And then, like any good Democratic politicians, they hire consultants to test the competing slogans. The results come in......and they reject them.

Can I say that again? They hired consultants...strike one...to give them insight into what people think and then ignore the advice...strike two. Anyone care to guess at what strike three will be?

Someone needs to send these folks to the Paul Hackett school of political etiquette.