To Democratic leaders: It’s The Message Senator!

[bluedawg12]

My first post here and I’m jumping in.
I wrote this after watching Senator Nancy Pelozzi bravely endure the Kyra Phillip’s public meltdown on CNN.
Be gentle, I am just a regular person trying to be heard.
Feed back welcomed.
Is this close to useful?
.............
To Democratic leaders: It’s The Message Senator!

Simple formula for success: Look positive and drop the negative.
This is a media age. Short brief statements punchy and to the point. Learn from the other side: As Sun Tsu said-> Message discipline.

1.) Praise the survivors.
-focus on their heroism and strength and family loyalty.
- we will rebuild the Gulf Coast
-these are proud and tough Americans
- Americans roll up their sleeves and get working and helping - the survivors are already going to school, getting jobs, setting up homes.
- do not call the survivors “ victims.” These folks are: survivors, Americans, tough, can-do, resilient, will bounce back, will have new lives, their children will have a bright future.
- they will rise.
- they will be reborn in the American dream.

2.) Praise the American people for opening up their hearts, homes and wallets.
-Emphasize that they are the future for the survivors ( not the Fed) because they will open their homes and schools and offer jobs to welcome these good people into their community.
- look towards the future
-look towards the future of New Orleans
-look towards a safer future for America
- praise the generosity of the American people
– thank the people of the world, from all nations, for offering to step up and help.


3.) Express disappointment about the Federal response to a national emergency.
-It’s not a hurricane, it’s not Katrina, say it’s a national emergency. Say it over and over.
-Not a local problem
- Get away from the school bus non-sense and local failure
- Repeat: This was a disappointing response by the federal government to a national
emergency.

4. ) Avoid negative words like:
Disaster
Victims
Failure (by anyone) it sticks to the speaker, mentally listeners will tar the speaker with failure thoughts too.

5.) Avoid dead end issues:
-never mention asking for another commission or study again. NEVER.
- Either form a commission or drop it, don’t ask or call for one.
- A Katrina commission will not help win elections anymore than the 9-11 comm did.
- Firing FEMA Brown means nothing- it will not change the lives of anyone. So if he is fired then what? I told you so to the WH? If he is not fired we look powerless.-- Firing Brown won’t change anyone’s vote.

- rather than talking about a commission appoint a commission, take action, head it with Ray Nagin, add Wes Clark, Bill Clinton, and business leaders, former FEMA head Mr. Lee Witt, citizens from NOLA and region, and LSU Hurriciane center experts. Add someone with media appeal. Think Tom Hanks, Dan Rather for dogged journalistic POV. There need to be many spokes people of the same conviction- not just the politicians. People with a strong and positive public image need to speak out and speak up.

6.) Give leadership initiatives, offer concrete plans.
-Streamline FEMA get it out of HS
- make FEMA accessible to crisis survivors
-Rapid FEMA response
-More jobs for Americans, more jobs for the survivors.
Jesse Jackosn said it well today but it needs strong public voice - make sure that the survivors get the jobs in rebuilding these communities.

7.) Use positive words:
defend
empower
encourage
engage
facilitate
fast-track
foster
give back
help
instill
invest in
promote
protect
push for
revive
share
stimulate
support

8.) Examples of the message. Pick it and stick it:

They’re NOT refugee’s they’re survivors.

Accountability: It’s not a game.

It’s not about the levee it’s about the Superdome.

National leadership means working for the good of the people at the local level.

Mayor Nagin needed help, an SOS did not mean Sit On the Sidelines.

The Bush stops here.

FEMA money can’t wash away the tears.

Remember the Superdome

We don’t look to Mayors for Presidential leadership, accountability is the name of this game.

This was a national disaster not a Louisiana disaster, our federal leaders were four days late and a leader short.

You can lead an Arabian horse to water but you can’t make him drink.

The strength and resilience of the survivors of this national disaster is matched by the generosity of the American people.

These are my suggestions. Does anyone have any other thoughts, slogans, good adjectives that convey a strong message.


Example:

America is a progressive nation and our future lies in the rebirth of the southern gulf states and in the success of the families that survived this national emergency. As they grow strong so will America. As they heal, so will America. As their children prosper so will all our children prosper.

Our fate, our path, our future is as one. When one is hurt- we all hurt. When one dies we all die... a little. We can see clearly that wealthy and poor are indeed brothers and sisters. To diminish just one is to diminish us all, to raise just one– is to raise us all.

We will make certain that our national readiness is progressive and strong, that our federal response is quick and sure, we will guard our nation , we will guard every city, every town, every street, every home ... and every child and man and woman will sleep in certainty and rest in calm tranquility knowing that they will never be left behind again.
They will never be washed away again.

We will build a strong, progressive, America and we’ll build prosperous, and secure homes for all Americans. The survivors of this national disaster will be assured of work, and the means to support themselves and their families as the re-building process takes off, as it grows. These American survivors will see to it that their communities will rise from this national crisis, men and women working to build a strong and secure America.

Our nations readiness will never again be four days late and a leader short.

[AverageJoe]

1. Welcome to DU, Bluedawg12!

Nice post. Here's my suggestion:

If you vote Republican, you murder people.

[bluedawg12]

2. Thanks Average Joe! The short version

works for me. LOL.

[mitchtv]

3. welcome , Bluedawg12

nice rant. there is ,uch "negative" that must be aired
all the help refused, for example. And a good simple timeline, might look real negative to some.

[blossomstar]

4. Wow!!!! John Kerry sure could have used YOU!!!!

Right on! They need to cut the long winded slow crap and get it right this time!

[bluedawg12]

5. A duplicate message

a duplicate message. heh heh sorry about that the board burped or something.

or "they're" on to me??

[Generic Other]

7. So who is the anointed one? On our side, that is.

You sound like a strategist. Do we have a leader to rally behind?

BTW, welcome to DU.

[bluedawg12]

6. Yes, there is tons and tons

of bad news to be disseminated.

But, I think Americans have become crisis fatigued.

We need some hope and idealism.

I have been hearing, reading and seeing FUBAR's beyond belief. We all have. The American people know it and feel it in their gut. They see it and wonder why red states got so little help from the man they elected. The disconnect is sinking in.

And I think the negative information and truth does need to get out.

But, I was hoping to see our Democratic leadership rise above it and take the strong leadership role that I believe Americans now know we lack.

From the Rovian book of sly moves- let others do the dirty work while the annointed one looks Presidential and gives hope and strength.

Think about all the non-sense we hear from people on the far right who do the hatchet job while the leaders stay above the fray and seem to exude confidence and strength -especially when they least deserve it. I would like to see their own tactics used back at them- but this time for the people and not for big biddness.

thanks for the welcome.

[mitchtv]

14. I only keep thinking

What if JK told chimp to his face "You, sir , are a LIAR". would have gotten a whole lot more respect than his goddammned pussyfooting, mr Nice Guy crap.

[OctOct1]

8. Wow!! I like what I am hearing

You have a lot of GREAT things to say.
I hope to hear them repeated here and out there.
My favorites

Accountability: It’s not a game.

It’s not about the levee it’s about the Superdome

I think "Remember the Superdome" is a theme all public speakers should be saying.
It would make a great t-shirt or bumper sticker

Remember the Superdome

[OctOct1]

9. I like this one better

This was a national disaster not a Louisiana disaster, our federal leaders were four days late and a leader short.

This needs a kick. Lot of good info here

[Mojorabbit]

10. great post eom

[OctOct1]

11. Just wanted to kick this for the day time people

Read all the way to the bottom.
GREAT ideas here

[bluedawg12]

12. Our chance to be the spokesmen for a shaken nation.

Here’s my fear. If we don’t get a strong and clear message and keep repeating it the public will:

a.) lose interest
b.) become over whelmed by the opposing positions and lose sight of what really happened. Our message will become diluted.
c.)move on to the next new cycle
d.) dismiss legitimate concerns as “just more griping.”
e.) become disillusioned if they don’t hear about concrete steps and solutions.

We need to have words that we can remember when we think of the Democrats position.

We need a face, or several, to represent our views, someone we can think of when we close our eyes and imagine who is publicly standing up against this shameful nightmare.

We need:
Clear strong positive message.
Camera friendly, vigorous, confident, protective, re-assuring, spokes people.
We want vision, direction, solutions and action.


We know the other side will obfuscate, divert with nit- picking trivia, over look the big failures, the systemic apathy for regular people was exposed. They will misdirect our attention to side issues, so we as a nation will bicker about buses or 30 years of poor funding for the levee’s. That’s what Kyra Phillips did to Sen. Pelozzi; start berating her for 35 years of Republican waste and federal apathy regarding New Orleans.

Opportunity for everyday Americans:
The public sees how things really work.
The media was down there and actually saw the failure to help people in the Superdome.
We know the media exposed FEMA Brown on Thursday night. Paula Zhan who got him to admit that as of Thursday he did not know there were people in the convention center. I KNEW, we ALL knew, and all we had to do was watch CNN and MSNBC. Yet, the FEMA director did not know?


Who should be th face(s) and voice(s) of the Democratic progressive position?

Here are some more quickie slogans, got any more?


Foto-ops in Emergencies with Men at Arms = FEMA.

FEMA. When Foto-ops count- We’re there!

What would Nagin do?

Real man don’t eat cake when cities are drowning.

New Orleans- The home of the blues.

Kennebunkport hurricane: what would Dubya do?


When the going gets tough the tough volunteer for - vacation.

Superdome: 9-1-05: Where was Cheney?

[bluedawg12]

13. The low death count in NOLA proves

that Mayor Nagin did a good job.

Sadly, twice as many are dead in Mississippi.

Let's be real, no one ever evacuates a city completely. Heck, there are still people there NOW who will not leave.

The failure was not local, the failure was Federal out of FEMA.

The dead cannot speak for themselves, but we will. Americans know what they saw and why they saw it.

Brownie is out.

Duya polls are down.

Now, the people want a plan. What will happen to the good people of New Orleans and Louisiana who are scattered over many states in a modern day diaspora?

Families must be re-united and these folks need work. They must restore some semblance of a nomral life and soon.

[bluedawg12]

15. The issue we must hit -abandonmnt of Tulane and Charity

Hospitals.

If that school bus canard comes up-hit them hard--->

why weren't the two main hospitals in the city evacuated?
Why? Mayor Nagin needed FEMA helicopters-why? why?