A Losing Message

For years, Democrats have warned that Republicans want to take your money to give tax cuts to the billionaires. But I see little evidence that this messaging is making inroads with voters. I’m neither a pundit nor a pollster, but if this poll is any indication, anti-billionaire messaging hasn’t stirred up much enthusiasm for Democrats. Based on the data, Americans have a much more complicated relationship with billionaires than simply, “they’re evil.”

The poll also suggests that Americans are more concerned with making rent or mortgage payments each month, the cost of groceries, and healthcare cost/access than they are about billionaire tax rates. Additionally, the data shows that 60% of Americans aspire to become millionaires and billionaires themselves, so demonizing the very outcomes that a majority of Americans hope to achieve is not going to land well.

Democrats could talk about their plans to improve access to healthcare, reduce costs of living, raise the minimum wage, and strengthen unions/worker protections. No billionaires need be mentioned; they can be taxed appropriately when the Democrats get a supermajority. To obtain a supermajority, Democrats have to amass votes, and bleating about billionaires and oligarchies is unlikely to get us there.

Anti-billionaire talking points have been part of the Democratic/Progressive platform for at least a decade. If anti-billionaire rhetoric was making a difference, it would have yielded results by now. A quick search for “democratic messaging problems” will make it abundantly clear that it’s time for a strategy that speaks to everyday concerns of voters.