Now Cross-posted at D-Kos and OpenLeft

One of the things that Republicans learned to do really well in the early 90s was branding.  In the modern era of marketing, the impact is really hard to overemphasize. People are increasingly relying on branding information where they were once using real data. That stinks, but it's the way the marketing game is played these days. So, we either play it or get steamrolled by it.  I bring this up to point out our own failings within the state to build the “Democratic” Brand. So, I poked around a few Congressional (electoral websites) for some good practices and some bad practices. 

I’ll start with one of my favorite Congress critter, Rep. Barbara Lee. Barbara Lee really does speak for me, in many ways. Unfortunately, she doesn’t speak for the Democratic Party very well. There are few mentions of the party on the site, and she hardly mentions that she is a Democrat. The website, overall, isn’t bad. It’s fairly well organized, but more could be done in terms of activating her great base.  But, as I said, she could be doing much more to increase the Democratic Brand to her fans.  All that being said, Rep. Lee’s district is overwhelmingly Democratic, and so the greatest way for her to boost Democratic fortunes is for her to just turn out the vote.

Next, let’s take a look at Loretta Sanchez.  Her Orange County District is D+5, and she’s been relatively safe for quite a few years. In terms of politics, her Progressive Punch Score of 84.53 puts her pretty much in the  middle (#143 in terms of progressiveness) of Democrats in the House. Her election website hasn’t changed since the 2006 election, but we can still take a look for its branding.  The word “Democrat” does appear in the metatags of the site, and in reference to a few of her initiatives on secondary pages.  However, the name of her party does not appear anywhere on the front page.  While some would argue that in her relatively swing district that this could damage her.  However, I would argue that the point of this exercise is to build the Democratic brand to the point that the fact that you are a Democrat is a strength, not some sort of weakness (perceived or otherwise).  So, particularly in a district that could conceivably be called “swing”, we should make sure our more prominent Democrats help other Democrats in the area by promoting the brand. If Loretta Sanchez is the ideal Democrat for Orange County, then she should be using herself as the poster child for the Party.  I’m not sure why she has chosen not to do so in the past, but if a truly great Democratic leader understands the need to foster other Democratic leaders in the Region, even if that possibly causes a few voters to think “Eww, she’s a Democrat, like that Darn Pelosi”. 

Now to a few who are good. And, unfortunately, really good examples were pretty hard to come by in the California Democratic Congressional Delegation.  I’ll start with Bob Filner (D-San Diego/Imperial County).  While the Page doesn’t say in big letters “Bob Filner, Democrat for Congress” like I would like to see, the home page does have a really great little message about why Democrats are great:

The Democrats have taken back control of the House and Senate and now we can get our country headed back in the right direction!  We will refocus on what’s most important to working men and women; bringing our troops home, creating jobs that pay living wages, ensuring quality education and health care for all, and protecting our environment.

That’s pretty cool.  All Dems should have a similar message about why Dems are better than Reeps.  Now, unfortunately for more good examples, I was pressed into looking at Reeps. Now, I’m not saying that I looked at all of our Representative’s websites (of those that even have them), so if people know of more good examples, point them out.  However, probably the best example of branding was from a California Republican, and I thought it should be pointed out.  It is the homepage of Rep. David Dreier (R-Glendora).  The site has your normal mish-mash of great quotes about him.  (For some reason, I don’t see anything about “family values” on there…I wonder why that is, Rep. Dreier?)  But what he does well? Well, he takes a swing at the Dems while glorifying Republicans.  More Democrats should be doing the opposite.

Congress has been run by the Democrats and Nancy Pelosi for more than six months and approval is at an all-time low. That’s because they have blatantly broken virtually every promise that they made in last year’s campaign and have, true to form, pushed for more spending, higher taxes, increased regulation and capitulation in our effort to achieve victory and bring our troops home from Iraq.

We are fighting hard to win the War on Terror, secure the border, grow the economy by reducing the tax and regulatory burden, pursue energy alternatives and encourage individual initiative and responsibility. That’s our positive vision.

As Republicans continue to work hard to earn back our Majority, I welcome your thoughts and ideas.

I welcome your comments on this one. If you know of good (or bad) Congress Critter sites, post them here.  This is something that we need to talk about if it is to get better.