Lessons in Marketing for Democracy
Part II
This month for the lessons in Marketing for Democracy series, we are looking at the very disjointed idea of former doves and liberals all coalescing around a message of national strength through support of the military!
The idea is found in our history that dates back for many of us on the left to the years when FDR was President. We can remember the ideals that were conveyed by the Four Freedoms of FDR , and that our own fathers fought in World War II and in the Korean War. Even those who fought in Vietnam were still proud to convey the idea of how much it means to fight for your country.
The US as Dove? … & Global Peacekeeper
And that has been carried down to the Iraq War Veterans and those who serve in the peace-time military. The United States has been a global peacekeeper and a policeman of sorts that patrols the regions of the world and tamps down its fires. And though the budget of the Pentagon has been a sore point from the point of view of the left for decades, there has still been support for our fight against Terrorism waged by the military. And that has been ongoing for the past two decades.
We are also entitled to say “I told you so’ about the invasion of Iraq and lack of nuclear weapons. But that war went on for twenty years and we cannot look back. Although, we can learn from our mistakes and not repeat them!
Rather, we should be looking forward to possible new conflicts in the 21st Century. We are going to need a strong military to act as deterrent for an ascendant Iran as well as the Chinese threat against Taiwan. Xi has all but stated in no uncertain terms he would like to invade the nation of Taiwan and do the same thing that Putin is now doing to Ukraine. The results would be much more death and destruction.
And it doesn’t take a military genius looking into the future to know how high the stakes are for the world. The United States needs to stand as a beacon of hope and light and freedom for the rest of the world.
Laying out the Freedoms
The Four Freedoms themes were these: Freedom from Want, Freedom to worship, Freedom to vote and to speak freely, all of these things are part of a larger concept that is part of our overall marketing message that needs to be hammered home in the coming months. It is a message that not just Democrats, but all those who are united against Autocracy and authoritarian rule should embrace. These are the freedoms we fight for.
Abortion Rights IS part of the concept of the Four Freedoms! We need to shout from the mountain tops the need to merge ideas that are usually associated with free speech and freedom of the press with the idea of bodily autonomy and the right to make our own decisions about when to start a family. This is all a part of the need to emphasize freedom and the idea that the Supreme Court has taken away your freedom and your rights!
Who is opposed to our Civil Rights? The GOP under the banner of Trumpism
And if the GOP has their way, a National Ban on Abortion will be next. And then they are putting on the table things like a ban on the pill that allows safe and private abortion treatment; and even the ability to drive across state lines and assist someone in having an abortion. These are going to become illegal acts.
Freedom is sacred and worth fighting for. Many of our relatives fought and died for the right to vote and the right to worship and the right to live as a free citizen in the United States. That is why we fight and will continue to lay out the reasons we must ‘up our game’ in getting the message out in 2024. It is more vital today than ever before.
