Thread by @DanAncona

In response to the most frequent question I got after my Mr Toad's Wild Dem Messaging Ride thread that took off last week (thanks @chrislhayes, @TheRickWilson, @RachelBitecofer and everyone else who amplified and commented), here finally is a thread on What Does Work.

1/18

Dems need to start making the case for all the hot issues where public opinion is divided. Health care reform, repro, gun safety, climate - all of these need clear, effective arguments made for them.

But in this thread, I'm going to focus mostly on immigration.

2/18

Trump and the GOP are spending millions on truly awful attacks on migrants, to devastating and horrifying effect.

But I'm not sure what scares me more: the GOP pushing them, or Dems failure (so far) to offer substantial, effective opposition. 3/18

elpasotimes.com/story/news/201…

Before I get to specific examples, three Big Things That Work. Big Thing #1: anything @anatosaurus touches. It's downright weird that people have heard of @FrankLuntz but not her. She's like a battle-tested Lakoff. This is one brilliant example: 4/18

vimeo.com/294653545

Big Thing That Works #2 (related to #1) is Anat and @IanHaneyLopez's Race-Class Narrative research. The effectiveness of this approach has been reproduced now at least a half dozen times. (that I know of) Even the GOP is starting to use it. (scary!) 5/18

asocommunications.com/research-1

Big Thing #3 is SCIENCE. Research tactics like focus groups get a lot of shit, but not using them means shooting blindly. For my '18 program we relied heavily on a new platform called @swayable. The problem isn't research, it's using it to avoid saying anything.

6/18

As @anatosaurus puts it:

"A great message doesn’t say what’s already popular;
a great message makes popular what needs to be said."

That is the RIGHT way to use research. Her new pod is a great source for more dep wisdom like this:

bravenewwordspod.com

7/18

On to specific examples. I built a wee media tracking db (not public) a few years ago that I'm pulling these from.

Some of these are big budget, but a lot aren't. Budget helps with production values, but anyone can tell a good story. 8/18

What Does Work Example #1: This genuinely scary spot does a powerful job connecting how anti-immigrant hysteria hurts everyone. It requires a CW though: skip it if family separation, police, and graphic authoritarianism are unhealthy for you. 9/18

https://twitter.com/ACLU_SoCal/status/938456354779381760

What Does Work Example #2: A palette cleanser from the previous one. @kdeleon used his long-shot US bid against Sen Feinstein to drive positive stories about immigrants in CA. This beautiful spot was part of it. 10/18

What Does Work Example #3: This is a Chamber of Commerce (!) spot for Texas (!) Republican (!) @WillHurd. Nothing brilliant here, just basic, effective blocking and tackling. For a TEXAS REPUBLICAN, people. 11/18

What Does Work Example #4: Lullaby, produced by @anatosaurus for @RAICESTEXAS. CW: you are going to cry, keep the tissues handy. 12/18

What Does Work Example #5: This is one of my favorite ads, ever. It's from the noted godless socialists at a small beverage concern called Budweiser. Fine, their budget was probably a lil more than your usual campaign spot. But the storytelling. Whoa. 13/

What Does Work Example #6: (not immigration) When I first saw this insurance co. ad I thought it was a branding ad for the Dems - but there's a very creepy subtext to it. (check the soundtrack) Packs a strong emotional hit though. 14/18

What Does Work #7: Tootling my own horn, this was the closing argument spot I co-wrote in '18. May not look like much, but we tested this heavily on Swayable vs positive and negative Trump ads and a very slick mod Dem ad. It beat all of 'em. 15/18

We also did a bunch of 15s ads that were in the top 10% of all the content tested on Swayable in '18. They're on that YT channel if you're curious. 16/18

We're in a pretty scary moment right now, with Trump/GOP continuing to puke anti-migrant hate all over social media. The Chamber of Commerce and Budweiser are to the left of the Dems on this, somehow. The room to address this is there Dems! 17/18

Don't have a good CTA for you yet (working on it), but one quick thing: journalists, PLEASE cover this more. We need to know what ads are saying and who is making them, not just how much is being raised and spent!

fin/18

p.s. If you missed the original thread it's here

https://twitter.com/DanAncona/status/1171847388463394816?s=20

p.p.s. A caveat with that first ACLU spot in particular: Be really, really careful evoking fear. It can backfire super easily. If you need a CW to post it, it’s probably too hot. Don’t retraumatize people with your creative! There were some doozies in ‘18.