Today, NDN releases a new national
strategy memo which lays out the opportunities and challenges facing Democrats in the home stretch. The memo's bottom line: Democrats can dramatically improve their standing with the American people through a forceful articulation of a future-oriented argument built around the positive, optimistic
NDN Agenda and a tough but effective contrast with the failed Republican program.This memo is part of NDN's stepped up efforts to help Democrats effectively make their powerful case to the American people. Built around the theme of
Restoring the Promise of America, NDN will launch a new national media campaign, expand its groundbreaking Hispanic project, improve its internet-based community building tools and offer more direct message guidance built around our compelling agenda, “A Commitment to Hope and Progress.” If you find this memo helpful please forward it on to others. The memo was devised with strategist Mark Penn as part of NDN’s
New Majority Coalition Project. It concludes:
Democrats Must Put Forward a Positive Agenda for the Future. The strongest message tested for either side was a positive New Democratic agenda that argues that Democrats will restore the promise of America after years of failed Republican leadership. It offers concrete policy plans on security, fiscal discipline, health care, education, and the environment. For example, with this NDN Agenda message, the presidential horse race shifts from 45 percent for John Kerry and 49 percent for George W. Bush, to 53 percent for Kerry and 43 percent for Bush.
Voters in the Dark About Democratic Agenda. Likely voters believe that the Democratic Party would do a better job in handling the major domestic issues of the day, but a majority do not believe that the Democratic Party or its standard-bearer has made clear its agenda for the future. 56 percent of voters believe that the GOP has a clear agenda for the future; only 45 percent say that the Democratic Party has one.
Key Fundamentals Running Against Republicans. The mood of the country is running against the party in power. 50 percent say that the country is off on the wrong track, and 51 percent say the same about the economy. Democrats still win the generic congressional ballot (43 to 40) and the generic state legislative ballot (40 to 39). And after a nominating convention widely seen as successful, Bush leads Kerry by just 4 points (49 to 45).
Security and Personality Driving Presidential Support. The Republicans have successfully increased the salience of their strongest issue, security, with the number of voters who say that security is the most important issue they will be voting on increasing 12 percentage points since May 2004. Also, voters who support Bush overwhelmingly do so for his personal leadership abilities and values. Democrats still have a 20-plus percentage point disadvantage when it comes to whom voters trust on handling the war on terrorism. Democrats cannot concede the issue of terrorism to the Republicans. As part of any long-term agenda, Democrats must put forward a security agenda that is based on smart ideas for keeping America safe, not based on accomplishments of any individual candidate’s past.
Swings Can Be Swung. This data shows that swing voters are ripe for becoming part of a durable Democratic coalition. Swing voters are pessimistic about the future of the economy, and care more about it. Yet, they also have much higher approval ratings of Bush (62 percent approving compared to 54 percent overall approving). To win swing voters into a long-term majority, Democrats must erode Republicans’ advantage on leadership, match their toughness on security, and drive home issues on which swing voters favor Democrats: economy, health care, and education.
Voters Logging on to Politics. As many likely voters use the Internet as their main source of news as use radio. In addition, 25 percent of likely voters visit politics websites, with candidate and party websites being the most visited. Despite the continued dominance of television as a news medium, the Internet is a rapidly rising competitor that stands to be a major news source in the years ahead. NDN's new strategy memo is the latest from NDN’s New Majority Coalition Project, a multi-year initiative to help identify the characteristics and concerns of America's changing electorate and devise a strategy that builds a lasting Democratic coalition. Since 2001, NDN has released numerous polls and strategy memos as part of this effort.
To learn more about NDN and its other initiatives, visit
www.newdem.org.
