USW Political Director Tim Waters and progressive talk show host Leslie Marshall this week discussed the upcoming midterm election and the barrage of messages bombarding voters.
Both Republicans and Democrats need to do a better job making sure their campaigns contain information about real, substantive issues, said Waters.
“The American people understand that coming out of the 2008 debacle and recession that there hasn’t been the recovery for the average working person in this country like there has been for the very wealthy,” said Waters.
Republicans, Waters said, are good at marketing their messages, but they rarely contain much content, preferring instead wedge issues they can use to distract voters from what’s really important.
“They have whole groups and think tanks sitting around coming up with what their daily news cycle talking points are going to be,” said Waters. “They test a message, they throw it out there and when something sticks, they get everyone singing from the same hymnal all at the same time.”
Democrats understand the issues plaguing working people, but they need to be more forthright with how they’re going to help get the country back on track. They need to “stand up and say loud and clear that it’s time to bring some justice back to this situation, especially economically,” Waters said.
To hear the full conversation, click the audio below:
Background Material
As we approach the mid-term Elections, there are issues that should be demanding more attention such as the rising gap in wealth and income disparity; the rapidly escalating costs and availability of affordable health care; and, a sluggish economy that is not creating nearly enough family-supporting jobs.
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