What depresses the hell out of me when listening to Democratic politicians, liberal advocacy groups, and unapologetic leftists alike, is how rarely I hear people even try to speak in popular/majoritarian language.
And I'm primarily talking about spokespeople here—folks who are presumably trained or prepared to be connecting with popular or particular social bases in order to activate them or win their sympathy.
A Matt Karp interview earlier this year hits on some of this and is really worth reading: niskanencenter.org/how-democrats-… @karpmj
The incentive structures of elitist social circles (of many varieties) discourage the use of popular language.

It's more advantageous to use specialized vocabulary that signals to other members of the in-group that you are among the few who 'get it.'
These elitist dynamics tend to bleed into the purportedly public-facing messages of political organizations and 'activist' groups.
There's more to this than the group dynamic aspect, especially concerning the Dem Party, where the bigger problem is the politically insane choice to prize a thin slice of affluent suburban crossover voters while letting an active bleed of working-class voters worsen unmitigated.
These problems of class interest, class disposition, class insularity, and elitist group dynamics all get wrapped up with each other inextricably.
If we allow this long historic trend to continue—where Democrats, liberals, and leftists alike are effectively branded as elitists (because of an objective insularity from working-class people)—without effective interruption, the authoritarian populists may become unstoppable.
Don't just love Bernie Sanders.

Study how he talks, what he says, how he connects with people.
(Not suggesting that Bernie or his campaign did everything right all the time with messaging; nonetheless, there's some gold to mine here.)
To be clear, while most Democrats and leftists alike do indeed suffer from a seriously damaging "message problem," the underlying sources—and the much bigger problem—is all about class interest and class insularity.
*class INTEREST, less so in the case of leftist organizations (compared to Dem Party politicians and operatives), but class INSULARITY is a huge problem across the 'broad left spectrum'
Apparently I have to clarify:

I'm not arguing against fighting for big, bold, transformational, even revolutionary changes.

Indeed, I believe that's precisely what this moment calls for.

But no matter the content of our program, we have to articulate it in popular language.

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More from @jonathansmucker

6 Mar
Senator @kyrstensinema’s history and psychology is as fascinating as it is depressing. She seems motivated by a somewhat personal resentment of “the Left” and her own experience of its ineffectiveness and naval-gazing (in a particular time period)…
She and I are roughly the same age. I also came of age with the same backdrop of a weak, dysfunctional Left. It often felt like we didn't have anything big enough to really accurately call a "movement"; it might sound harsh, but we had residue from when there had been a movement.
I too became disillusioned with the pathologies of what I too often experienced as a small and insular Left—a little clubhouse that often seemed completely uninterested in building or wielding real political power. I've written a lot about this experience in @hegemonyhowto
Read 23 tweets
8 Jan
If we want a future that is not run (/run into the ground) by literal Nazis, we will have to fight for it. There is no "back to brunch."
If we want to defeat authoritarianism, we will need to do a lot better than condemning its most heinous visible acts.

We have to confront the underlying crisis of runaway inequality that has created conditions where authoritarian demagogues and movements flourish.
If the Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress fail to deliver big for working class people (urban and rural, young and old, of every race), then the next consolidation of authoritarian power will likely be far worse than the one we have just endured.
Read 5 tweets
4 Dec 20
Insurgent strategy must always be grounded in a sober assessment of the present balance of forces.

But it must also be grounded in a visionary imagining of how forces can favorably shift when insurgents capture the momentum.

The real trick is to hold both things at once.
Don't let people who aren't accountable to an organized base set the strategy.
Don’t demonize your opponents to the point that you neglect to study them.
Read 5 tweets
9 Nov 20
The story of who was key in defeating Trump is a critical contest in framing Biden’s popular mandate.

A message strategy thread:
Trump’s defeat is the result of a massive multiracial working class movement fighting back—as opposed to an intervention of elite forces, former GOP operatives, or of conservative “swing” voters.
A core challenge in this narrative contest is cutting through the noise and the bunk “common sense” of the dominant narrative asserted by the political class.
Read 48 tweets
6 Nov 20
If you appreciate Pennsylvania delivering Trump a historic defeat, please support the people-powered grassroots organizations that made a plan to win and have been working their asses off for four years to bring it home.

Organizations (with links) in thread:
Lancaster Stands Up. @lancstandsup

The original Stands Up! We started 10 days after Trump won in 2016, with an emergency community meeting of 300 Lancaster residents. We've been in the streets and on the doors for four solid years.

Donate here: LancasterStandsUp.org/donate
Reclaim Philadelphia. @reclaimphila

A crew of Bernie 2016 staffers decided to dig in and build big. They've won some incredible uphill races since then, including this year winning it for @NikilSaval and @rick4westphilly

Donate here: secure.actblue.com/donate/reclaim…
Read 16 tweets
4 Nov 20
We’ve been organizing a broad base in Pennsylvania since the 2016 election. Today we’re mobilizing our community to rally for democracy and to count every vote.

My patience for this kind of bullshit from national organizations that are not accountable to a base has run out.
We held actions in cities and towns all across Pennsylvania. They were disciplined with strategic popular messaging, tight visuals, and joyous crowds. Our actions generated good media coverage and helped shape the story.
I do think it was of utmost importance that our actions were disciplined and well-planned in this dangerous and precarious moment. But that’s exactly why so many of our organizations on the ground had been planning for strategic and disciplined actions for weeks.
Read 5 tweets

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