"Democrats suck at getting their message out"
Cory Doctorow says Dems suck at getting their message out. He blames the election loss on Dems losing the propaganda war. According to him, the traditional media had to stick to its own code of "balance" and "neutrality", and so it could not speak the plain truth about Trump and his policies. He then links to an equally deluded take from a certain Ryan Cooper. Cooper suggests the Dems start a bunch of local newspapers that start publishing the "truth" without worrying about balance and neutrality. The two bums seem to think people voted for Trump out of ignorance.
Exactly what message of Dems did the conventional media fail to put out? Do the Dems have a winning message? About 80% of voters think the country is on wrong track, and Dems are the party in power. Dems don't have a slam dunk argument. They can't possibly say, "we did a great job, so vote for us again!" Given this fact, it seems to me they did the best they could.
They needed to convince people that things are not as bad they appear, and that Trump is terrible. Didn't we hear the media pundits proclaim economy is doing great, and people are ignorant for thinking it is not? Some even said the inflation slowed down, so the high prices problem is in the past. (The problem is, inflation is cumulative. After it was bad for a period, and the prices have all gone up by some 20% over that period, inflation slowing down won't bring the high prices back down. The prices will simply stop growing so fast.) Biden said prices are high, but people have more money to spend. This is not true. The stock market started doing well recently, so some rich people may be feeling good. But the common man does not have more money to spend. Credit card debt is at an all time high. People have been struggling mightily, and telling them to ignore reality didn't work. So, Kamala reluctantly came around to admitting the truth, without offering any good solution. "Prices are still too high. You know it, and I know it." Notice the "still" in there, as if they brought the prices down from their highs. Kamala said she will fight "price gouging" by some of the companies. If only some companies are "gouging", then why are prices high everywhere? It's no wonder people didn't buy her story.
Biden and Kamala bragged about the jobs they "created" with no fact checking by anyone in the media. The vast majority of jobs "created" were jobs that were created during Trump admin, which went away due to the pandemic, and returned after normalcy is restored. Also, the blockbuster jobs reports that got released every month invariably got revised down a month later, with nobody in the media noticing.
For three years, Dems swore up and down that the southern border is secure and not open. When Texas governor started sending illegals by bus to New York and other Dem run cities, people all over the country started noticing the illegal immigration problem. Dems' "message" did not "resonate" with people. Kamala came around to some extent towards the end, and pledged to strengthen the border and enforce immigration law. Given her exuberant support for open borders in the past, people didn't buy her story on this either.
On Trump being terrible, the media goons really did a most thorough job. They lied about him nonstop. He is a fascist, a strong man, a dictator. He will enforce national abortion ban, and take away women's rights. He will implement Project 2025, with all the various terrible things in it. His tariffs will destroy the economy, and cause the prices to go even higher. He adored Hitler. He will use military against the "enemies within." He called for Liz Cheney to be shot down. He will cancel all future elections, and rule over the country forever. He is an insurrectionist. He is a felon. He will deport all brown immigrants, legal and illegal. He will put (undesirable) people in camps. And on and on.
You can never tell with the media hacks, but chances are, extremists like Doctorow are sincere in their beliefs. And I'm glad they have trouble believing Dems lost fair and square. Just keep thinking it's a messaging problem.