It’s been on the GOP’s chopping block for decades
E.J. Dionne notes this morning, as I did, how President Joe Biden’s 2024 launch video leads with the word “Freedom.” Biden deployed it six times in all. He means to reclaim that brand from the faux patriots.
“Joe Biden has made defending our basic freedoms the cause of his presidency,” the ad declares. Before continuing, Dionne asks readers to hold their skepticism until he’s fleshed out what that means.
Franklin D. Roosevelt made “four freedoms” the centerpiece of one his most important speeches: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear. Since then, Democrats have ceded freedom to conservatives, preferring in Dionne’s telling, “to talk about justice, equality, democracy, fairness or community.”
“The chance to live a life of your choosing, in keeping with your values: that is freedom in its richest sense,” Pete Buttigieg declared during his 2020 run for the presidency.
Dionne writes:
I chatted with Buttigieg about freedom last week, and though he did not want to get into the campaign or Biden’s video out of respect for the Hatch Act, he was happy to relate the concept to his own work and the administration’s.
“You are freer to pursue a life of your choosing if you’re literally physically freer to move about to where you need to go,” he said. “We’ve always associated the idea of freedom with physical movement. Right. I mean, what’s the opposite of freedom? It’s confinement.”
Then he got to the core philosophical point inherent in Biden’s argument. “Freedom isn’t just about freedom from. It’s freedom to,” he said, noting that while it’s important to protect people from “government overreach,” government can also enhance the “freedom to live the way you want to live by providing basic services and resources.”
And he couldn’t resist adding: “You can be for liberty, or you can be for banning books. You cannot be for both.”
“Freedom has always been a contested value,” says Anat Shenker-Osorio. Freedom is a winner with Americans across the political spectrum, Shenker-Osorio says of her messaging research. “It is not coincidental that freedom to vote is the name of the newer form of what was the For the People Act. That name was very deliberately chosen.”
Republicans use freedom as a prop. In the end (see Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis), the authoritarian right will freely trample your freedoms. They’ve long since rejected “democracy.” Your freedom to choose your leaders and have your votes count as more than political eyewash is at stake as it’s never been.
Democrats had best make clear that that freedom is under attack. From within. By MAGA Republicans. Biden is trying to make clear that he stands for defending that basic freedom. To keep doing that, he has to win in 2024.
If Biden means to run on the defense of freedom in both the from and to senses, he and his party need not only to have a resonant message, as Anat suggests, but also bring an enhanced skill set to the table. Elections are not just competitions of messages.
Winning elections requires a mix of skills. Leadership experience, discipline, fundraising ability, an easy way with people, organizational skills, a resonant message. Some are more important than others. Clearly.
Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 against likely the most qualified candidate Democrats had ever nominated, and yet his personal deficits were legion. But his “Make America Great Again” slogan encoded a mix of messages his base heard loud and clear. They embraced it and him. He spoke to their anxieties, their grievances, and their baser instincts as if injecting it into their veins.
But Democrats must also, as I’ve said, “play the game for real. At some point, you have to run the election and count the votes. At some point, you have to win on the ground instead of in your head. You’d best be good at it.”