The Perfect Moment to Address the Democratic Party's Strategic Shortcomings

If the Democratic Party does not learn from Five Decades of Constitutional Challenges, it will be condemned to lose elections and Americans will being railroaded into a loss our our democratic ideals.

Despite extensive documentation of actions contrary to democratic principles - as outlined in Mark Jacob's recent Substack analysis - Democratic leadership continues to demonstrate strategic ineffectiveness in countering these threats. While ultra-right-wing entities and the Republican Party have masterfully wielded messaging and narrative control from Reagan through Trump, Democratic responses have been characterized by:

1. Reactive rather than proactive messaging strategies

2. Inconsistent framing of constitutional violations

3. Hesitation to directly confront the erosion of democratic norms

4. Over-reliance on assumptions about voters' commitment to democratic institutions

The timeline Mark Jacob presents reveals a persistent pattern: Republicans successfully frame narratives - from Reagan's "welfare queen" rhetoric to current election denial and cultural claims - while Democrats struggle to articulate compelling counternarratives that resonate with voters.

Systemic failure to change leaves Democrats perpetually disadvantaged in protecting constitutional norms and public trust, even when defending demonstrably legitimate democratic processes. The party's inability to develop effective responses to the undermining of democratic safeguards suggests a deeper strategic weakness. Even unprecedented events like the attempt to overturn the 2020 election and the Trump re-election campaign have not prompted a fundamental shift in Democratic messaging or strategy.

Mark Jacob's latest Substack A Half-century of Horrible Republican behavior offers insights into the history of Republican scandals. It documents nearly 50 years of political tactics and their impact on American democracy and of failures of successful political pushback.

Some of my Republican friends might provide their own laundry list of Democratic horrible behavior and will not need to because Republicans and its allies and advocacy groups have done a successful job of painting as horrible all things Democratic. The cracked brand of Democrats proves this point. I agree there is no false equivalency between Republican and Democratic bad behavior; however, there are examples where social and traditional media have drawn careless and dangerous false equivalencies. While both parties have breached public trust, Republicans have systematically undermined democratic safeguards since 1974, from Nixon's crimes to Trump's attempts to overturn election results - exceeding Democratic missteps.

This is my perspective from my own state of Iowa and the national D leaders. The intermittent elections of Iowa D governors and US Presidents forced R’s to recalibrate messaging, which they did successfully. Democrats stood still. As with the 50-year, long-term strategy of the anti-abortion movement, there was long-term, intergenerational commitment and awareness to learn from mistakes.

A summary of Jacob’s timeline follows.

1. Contra (1986-1992): Despite the scandal's severity, Democrats failed to prosecute or hold officials accountable, and Bush Sr.'s pardons effectively ended the consequences.

2. Bush v. Gore (2000): While Democrats challenged legally, they failed to effectively counter the "Brooks Brothers Riot" or mount an aggressive public response to the Supreme Court intervention.

3, Iraq War (2003): Though some Democrats opposed it, they failed to effectively challenge the WMD narrative or build strong public opposition before the invasion.

4. Merrick Garland blockade (2016): Democrats were ineffective in generating public pressure or finding procedural counters to McConnell's unprecedented obstruction.

5. Trump's first impeachment: While Democrats impeached Trump, they didn't effectively communicate the Ukraine extortion story to the public or pressure GOP senators.

This history shows several patterns:

1. Republicans consistently develop simple–as in brief, understandable, emotionally resonant narratives (even when factually incorrect).

2. They effectively use coded language to activate voter concerns.

3. They quickly coordinate messaging across their media ecosystem. This includes all media, party and elected officials, and allied interest groups.

4. They aggressively and successfully frame Democrats rather than just defend against attacks.

5. The pattern suggests Democrats often pursued institutional and legal responses rather than mounting aggressive public messaging campaigns or using hardball political tactics. When they did push back, it was often measured and process-focused to counter Republican actions.

Democratic leadership's response to any systematic undermining of democratic norms has been consistently ineffective. While ultra-right-wing media/groups and the Republican Party have masterfully wielded narrative control from Reagan through Trump, Democrats remain trapped in:

• Perpetual defense mode, reacting to rather than anticipating threats

• Academic explanations when visceral responses are needed

• Misplaced faith that facts alone will persuade voters

• Reluctance to directly confront constitutional violations

Even unprecedented events like the attempt to overturn the 2020 election haven't triggered necessary strategic shifts. This failure to adapt - despite decades of evidence - has left Democrats perpetually outmaneuvered in defending democratic institutions.

The time for measured responses has passed. Democratic strategy must evolve from explaining threats to democracy to actively countering them.