The Democrats' 2018 Slogan Is... Better Than I Thought It Would Be?

Despite the pervasive unpopularity of Donald Trump, throughout his presidency Democrats have struggled to find a simple, cohesive message. On Wednesday, House Democrats finalized their slogan for the 2018 midterms: It's “For the People." And though lots of people, including me, have been plenty critical of the Democratic establishment, it honestly impressed me. As Politico noted, a "Better Deal," their previous attempt at a slogan "largely failed to break through with voters and has been openly mocked by some Democratic lawmakers." (This is the way fancy journalists say, "It sucked and everyone hated it.")

"For the People" is smart because it implies that their opponents, the notoriously big business–friendly Republicans, are not working on behalf of said people. It is simple, and unlike a "Better Deal," which in an earlier iteration was, "A Better Deal: Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Wages," it doesn't have the same cadence as the Papa John's slogan.

As Politico pointed out, Republicans have a stronghold on "better" slogans. In 2016, the party went with a “A Better Way” and recently, they announced their 2018 slogan is "Better Off Now." Regardless of your political affiliation, unless you're a gazillionaire who stands to further enrich yourself off of the GOP tax overhaul, there is no evidence to suggest that we are any better off now than we were in the Obama era.

"For the People" doesn't convey any specific policy, but rather an overarching philosophy—that's a necessity, given how many different policies all the different candidates are running on this year. If the Democrats regain control of the House in the midterms, it'll be up to them to embody this people-centric way of doing politics. But this was a fine first step.

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