Building a new media infrastructure
Strategist Will Robinson wants to bring the Democratic communication machine into the 21st century.
For years, I’ve been complaining about the Democratic communication infrastructure. The party has been slow to adapt to the digital age, relying too much on ad-based communication while Republicans have been controlling the means of communications. One of my standard lines is that Republicans bought newspapers, radio stations, television station, and digital networks while Democrats bought ads on them.
Now, my friend Will Robinson has written a series of articles about the Democrats’ failure to communicate effectively in the changing media environment. Will is a long-time Democratic strategist who my late friend Ross Bates described as a “general” in the hierarchy of progressive campaign politics. He has the ear of the party leadership and donor class. He’s worth following and reading because he might be able to actually effect change.
Will writes:
Democrats remain heavily invested in traditional political communication methods: television ads, direct mail, and centralized campaign operations during “the campaign season”…In contrast, the Republican Party and aligned right-wing media ecosystems have rapidly adapted to disruption by embracing digital-first, always-on communication platforms. Through Fox News, talk radio, influencer networks, and highly decentralized social media channels, right-wing narratives—including disinformation—spread quickly and persistently.
We see the difference in the way Republicans communicate with their constituencies daily. They have multiple channels to get their message out, creating an echo chamber that resonates through their communities on talk radio, local newspapers, digital networks, and Sinclair-owned local television stations. And they’ve developed trusted messengers to deliver the news.
In much of rural America, almost all information is filtered through conservative networks. Republicans have successfully broken the Democratic brand in these areas and repairing it will be difficult because all of the local “news” reinforces the message that Democrats are out to destroy their way of life. Many rural residents no longer trust traditional media outlets and have largely tuned them out, so they are only getting one side of the story.
I’ve listened to a few podcasts recently that discussed focus groups of people who voted for Biden in 2020 but switched to Trump in 2024. A common refrain is that Trump is at least doing something. Biden didn’t do anything. It’s a testament to the failure of the Democratic messaging machine.
Joe Biden had one of the most successful legislative sessions of the 21st century in 2022. He passed the CHIPs Act, gun control, the infrastructure bill, and the Inflation Reduction Act, much of it with Republican support. The problem is that nobody knew it happened. The party didn’t have a network of influencers and podcasters pushing the story on a daily basis. The CHIPs Act led to a surge in manufacturing and nobody noticed. The infrastructure bill began updating our transportation system, but we didn’t see a stream of ribbon cuttings with Democratic officials splashed across social media channels. It might not have made a difference in 2024 given everything that happened, but the fact the successes that summer are forgotten is a failure of communication.
Will’s solution starts with building a permanent, decentralized digital infrastructure that uses local voices to spread the message. Democrats and progressives need to rebuild trust that they lost. They need to be vocal all the time. Networks of social media warriors, podcasters, bloggers, Youtubers, TikTokkers and other digital-native content-providers should be delivering and amplifying Democratic messages in real time using authentic voices, not politically constructed talking points.
Younger voters, in particular, no longer get their information from traditional news sources. They don’t watch TV or cable news. They don’t listen to the radio. They certainly don’t read newspapers. They are getting their news from podcasts, video clips, and social media feeds. Democrats are quickly losing these voters, in part, because they aren’t reaching them.
Building a Democratic eco-system is going to take time and resources. I’ve long joked that Republican billionaires are smarter than Democratic billionaires. While conservatives developed a wide-reaching eco-system, Democrats are still primarily producing 30-second ads in election years. The people who fund the Democratic political infrastructure need to shift resources to the innovators. Otherwise, they’re going to lose the plot, if they haven’t already.
I like the joke about Republican billionaires being smarter than Democratic billionaires. I don't think their IQ is actually higher. I think Republican donors approach getting votes the way they would approach a marketing scheme designed to get more profits.Sales tactics obviously work.
Our advantage against this is that personal connections in real life will defeat hollow, fakey marketing. Sure, people will go for the entertaining, flattering marketing, but they are now learning that marketing and Republicans are only solving THEIR problems, not the voters' problems. This realization is what we see in Republican town halls.
If we can connect for real and then grab voters by the lapels and show, not tell, them we are dedicated to making their lives better, then we can win back their loyalty. Democrats need to study what FDR did. He practiced retail politics. People knew he cared and he was trying. That kind of heart will make Trump's deceptive political practices fade away.
And if Democratic politicians are relying on consultants who are not dedicated to making voters' lives better, those wastes of space need to be shown the door.
After reading the article, it seems clear to me that the Democratic Party, and in truth both major political parties, are missing a critical point: public trust in institutions has eroded significantly. Many Americans today feel not only abandoned by the systems they once relied upon but actively betrayed by them. This growing disillusionment is not partisan; it spans political ideologies and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Both parties, though ideologically distinct, have exhibited increasingly authoritarian tendencies in how they assert their agendas. Whether through policy enforcement, media influence, or social pressure, the average citizen is left feeling controlled rather than represented.
One of the most glaring issues I see with the Democratic Party in particular is the lack of authentic, long-form, logical debate in public discourse. There appears to be a growing reliance on emotionally charged messaging meant to deplatform through moral condemnation, a tendency to cater to extremes and encourage violence. This alienates the very constituents who are simply looking for practical solutions and honest dialogue.
The mainstream media, which once served as a watchdog and facilitator of public accountability, now seems deeply polarized and, to many, untrustworthy. Regardless of which platform is used to disseminate a message, the deeper issue is that a significant portion of the public no longer believes what they are being told. That trust has been squandered over decades of policies that have contributed to diminished personal independence, weakened community structures, and a sense of lost dignity.
Cosmetic changes, whether in messaging, leadership, or branding, will not restore confidence. What is needed is a fundamental reassessment of values and priorities. Until the Democratic Party, or any political movement for that matter, reconnects with the concerns of everyday people—those striving to build lives, support families, and find purpose—meaningful progress will remain elusive.
From the outside, the party often appears to operate under a tightly controlled narrative. Politicians, media outlets, and affiliated organizations frequently echo the same talking points, and the even absurdities which can come across as disingenuous and manufactured. This perception only deepens the divide between leadership and the people they seek to represent.
Real change requires introspection, transparency, and a willingness to engage in uncomfortable but necessary conversations. Until then, the disconnect will persist, and with it, the cynicism and frustration of the electorate. Your messaging is bad, and your platform has become overwhelmed by absurd fanaticism. Take that how you will. But earning any trust back is going to take more than window dressing.