This memo from the Democratic polling organization Impact Research (PDF) for the progressive activist organization End Citizens United provides some advice for Democrats that I wish they would take but doubt that they will. Here are some of their takeaways:
1. Keep the focus on Congress, more than Trump or Elon. For these swing participants, their views on Trump and Elon are complicated and still forming. Trump retains some inoculation on corruption issues. His longstanding “drain the swamp” rhetoric combined with the way he’s messaging DOGE through the framework of ridding waste and corruption gives him some credibility. Likewise, while participants had real concerns about Elon’s role, they were ill-formed, and they saw some positives from his cuts. They are not positive towards either person, but candidates should note that only utilizing corruption framing against Trump and Musk will present some barriers. However, members of Congress are ripe targets for corruption messaging – voters view all (nameless) politicians as corrupt, focused on self-enrichment and gaining power. They attach a lot of the problems facing the country to these ills, and while they are not necessarily able to articulate specific examples of corruption, they are certain that corruption is rampant in Washington.
and
2. Focus on self-enrichment and the influence of special interests and lobbyists as the leading examples of corruption in Washington. More so than past cycles, these participants were fluent in ways that members of Congress use the office for personal gain – they cite examples of members who go into office “with no money” and come out “millionaires.” They are aware that members make less than $200k and assume their net worths increase due to self-dealing. Relatedly, they see lobbyist influence on behalf of special interest as corrupting – buying off politicians to get their own deals. They see this as connected to their own problems – when elected leaders are focused on lining their own pockets, they make decisions based on that, not what is best for people. They want to see action to address this.
When there is no such thing as real privacy and everyone is carrying a videocamera, it’s a lot harder to get traction by complaining about the other guy’s corruption while engaging in corrupt practices yourself than it used to be.
“voters view all (nameless) politicians as corrupt,”
In the polls with which I am familiar voters think Congress as a whole is awful but like their own congresspeople.
Steve
Since both parties are moving to engraving “protect incumbents” in six inch high letters, attacking one could lead to be removal from the party ballot and/or a media blackout.