I think you misunderstand me. I'm not commenting on the truth of the statement, I'm commenting on how it's permeated national politics. And obviously ("poo-flinging slackers," is it?) you're not gonna be one of the guys the marketing is speaking to.
The Dems have been messaging failures since Clinton left, and arguably even while he was in office. They don't have a fifth of the marketing savvy the right does. That a grassroots group could brainstorm, articulate (yes, articulate), and successfully publicize an idea like 99% to a degree that the GOP has to occasionally name-check it and has had to switch gears from focusing on deficit reduction to defending income inequality -- that's an unqualified success. And one that the Dems rarely get.
Obviously you and I are gonna disagree about the far left's class warfare, but I don't think it's particularly controversial to say that they've succeeded in making an idea very popular.
Now you are speaking my language. I agree. Marketing is a problem, but for both sides.
For marketing to work, there has to be a value proposition. A product has to be offered that a person values more than what they must give in order to acquire it.
Political products change over time based on the "issues of the day."
For many years the product that Republicans offered was PROSPERITY.
REPUBLICAN=PROSPERITY
Also for as long and I can remember Democrats offer the product of SECURITY.
DEMOCRAT=SECURITY
Both of those products can be sold on the same shelf, and make a well rounded product offering.
Something started to happen in 2004-2008. In Bush's second term we saw such an increase in government that the values of Republicans started to change. The product they wanted was still PROSPERITY, but they saw that product threatened, so many sought a return to a more fundamental offering that their elected officials were not providing. The expansion of government was a threat, and with the promise of a new president (Obama or McCain) they envisioned this trend continuing.
In 2009 this came to a head with the Tea Party and the Republican party was effectively re-tooled (with a Tea Party gun to their heads).
The new product was LIBERTY.
REPUBLICAN=LIBERTY
DEMOCRAT=SECURITY
The problem with the new product offering is two-fold. LIBERTY and SECURITY do not play well together. Typically people seek one or the other. This is why we are more polarized politically. The second problem is one of track-record. Republicans have little track record of delivering LIBERTY, and Democrats have a dismal record of delivering SECURITY.
So I think we may now be seeing a push to re-tool the Democrat product by forces such as OWS. Perhaps with better organization they could be successful, but I think President Obama already understands this, and that is why he is attempting to re-brand the product as FAIRNESS.
REPUBLICAN=LIBERTY
DEMOCRAT=FAIRNESS
These two products are even more at odds with each other. If he succeeds in this redefinition of the Democrat product, I would expect a rocky road for both parties. Will you choose to be a person who embraces liberty or fairness. How do you define each, and where are the boundaries? What's the pitch? What's the cost?