On March 26th, we gathered for our final Zoom organizing training to learn how to talk about the issues from Gallatin County Democrats Communications Manager, Lucy Hochschartner.
We examined how Republicans have won the message battle and broken the New Deal coalition that Duane covered earlier. Ever since the 1960s, dog-whistles have been used to undermine progressive causes. Dog-whistling is a messaging strategy that conservative politicians used to divide voters with racialized arguments without ever using obvious racial signifiers like “White” or “Black.” In response, the traditional Democratic wisdom was that we must also shy away from talking about race.
We learned that the latest research suggests this was the wrong approach. By explicitly naming our racial and class differences and how we can unite across them, we can speak in ways that not only feel true to our values, but actually win people over.