Finding the Democratic message and messenger

Comment by "Low Dudgeon" regarding Tim Ryan:

     "The problem for Tim Ryan is that few have heard of him even though he already ran for President. He never made the grown-up’s table."

Tim Ryan, who???

There is a joke about politicians. Politics is show business for ugly people. 

Tim Ryan isn't ugly. But he doesn't have movie-star good looks, and he isn't mega rich, and he can't shoot three-pointers, and he isn't already famous for doing something in show business. He looks like a normal American married man of 48. He doesn't have charisma. 

I am re-introducing Tim Ryan as a potential future president. He is a long shot. I want to put him on the mental radar of readers. This blog won't make him famous, but if things break right for him, he might win a senatorial election, get noticed, get nationally famous, get popular, then get elected president. It could happen.

He is a ten-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio, a candidate for U.S. senator from Ohio, and he was briefly a candidate for president in 2020. I saw him speak at the New Hampshire Democratic convention. He was one of about 15 candidates, along with the "major" ones, which included Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, and the big star of the show, Elizabeth Warren. The crowd went crazy for Warren. Joe Biden also spoke. No one paid any attention to him or to Tim Ryan. Both were also-rans--not at the "grown-up table" of Democratic activist interest. Biden was a has-been. Ryan was a never-heard-of-him wannabe. Why bother paying attention to either of them. And yet, Biden is now president. 

Here are 52 seconds of video of Tim Ryan, giving his core message, that America needs a fiscal policy 

"where we start building things in this country, where we start making things in this country. One of my first acts will be to appoint a Chief Manufacturing Officer. If we want to address climate we need to dominate the industries of the future. . . "

Click here

Maybe Ryan will disappear without a trace. If he loses his senate race in Ohio that would be likely. He would have failed in his "proof of concept" message. Ryan says he understands what really unites Americans--a strong economy with good, family-wage jobs manufacturing things the world needs. Ohio isn't the rustbelt, he insists. It was a hub of manufacturing know-how and infrastructure, and it can be that again. He says his message will win majority votes in America's heartland. If he wins, he will have proved his point.

Here, again, is the photo of Tim Ryan I posted yesterday. 

Zoom meeting

This is how he dressed in a Zoom meeting with large-dollar donors: A tee-shirt or sweat shirt. It is so "un-cool" as to be "cool," because of its defiance of political fundraising norms. Ukraine president Zelensky is charismatic in a tee-shirt. He looks sympathetic and in sync with his countrymen, a David confronting Goliath Putin. Ryan is making a parallel statement. He is Mr. Meat-and-Potatoes. Solid. Unpretentious. Authentic. You must be confident in your "un-cool" authenticity to pull this off. This isn't John Kerry in a duck-hunting outfit; that was laughably phony. People recognize fake working-man-solidarity. I liken it to paying extra to buy ragged jeans with holes in the knees. That is faux authenticity, and it is uncool, especially when one pays extra for designer rags. Ryan is genuinely "uncool," and therefore might in fact become genuinely cool. 

He isn't cool yet. First he must win his Ohio senate race. Then the comments about "big boy table" will stop. All of a sudden Ryan would be re-positioned into a star, a winner. Pundits and activists would suddenly pay attention. They would be deciding whether they preferred Ryan to Kamala Harris. Ryan's victory might mean that the Democratic message--even Harris'--shifts from race relations to jobs for American workers. Democrats have been eroding votes among Black and Hispanic working people, and have already lost them among White blue collar workers. The Democratic message on economic and racial justice isn't working, especially among the people Democrats say they are trying to help. Democrats appear to be slow to notice this reality. The Democratic message is condescending, and the objects of the condescension notice.

Ryan is authentic meat-and-potatoes, so he looks authentic. He projects a new message for Democrats. Working people don't hate the wealthy. They want to be wealthy. We fix Black and Hispanic poverty by getting good jobs for Black and Hispanic working people. They value hard work and want to be well paid when they do it. They aren't a basket case of victimhood. They are Americans.

Note: To subscribe by email go to: https://petersage.substack.com  Enter your email. The blog is free and always will be.