Design Party

As I sat down to begin this blog today, my glance wandered to my absentee ballot for this November’s election sitting next to my computer. As I took in the words “Official Ballot – Vote By Mail,” I was struck with a thought about design in a not-so-obvious realm – politics.

It has unfortunately become quite common place for candidates of all viewpoints to spin their messages, especially through sound bite-favoring social media platforms. The Republican Party, however, has utilized design as a political tool in a manner and with an effectiveness that is completely unrivaled. It is not visual design which the Republican machine uses, but verbal design, crafting idealized messages to be soaked up by the awaiting public. The reason why the Party goes to such lengths is to protect its regressive, destructive nature. The Republican Party at the national level has for decades represented social bondage, environmental degradation, monopolized markets, and illegal corporate fraud, but how do they remain so successful? Design.

Carl Rove as the puppet master behind the Bush campaign on freakingnews.com

In a strategy that goes back to before Ronald Reagan, the Republicans craft idealized messages, buzzwords, and slogans. They make pledges and plans designed specifically to touch at the emotional soft spots of people whose lives are run by fear and dogma. Through a masterfully thought out series of manipulative speeches, the Republican Party sells snake oil that destroys the very people that it promises to help. To achieve this destructive, insidious design process, the Party finds a host or figurehead for their tenets. This host in the past has been played by Reagan (who removed solar panels from the White House roof), George Bush I and II, and many others such as Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Carly Fiorina, or Meg Whitman.

All are empty vessel, blue collar, “men of the people” to put a friendly face on the Republican messages of deception. It is clear just how much about these “politicians” has been crafted behind the scenes when they speak in a debate-style format, or are forced to deviate from their pre-rehearsed drivel. In a debate, for example, if a question comes that the well groomed and stylized candidate can’t outright deflect, the true persona begins to appear. The polished self-assurance immediately disappears, and flustered, nonsensical, contradictory messages come out. It is only a brief lapse usually, but if the observer is attentive, it is tremendously powerful insight about the destructive capabilities of design, and how it is exploited by predominantly the Republican Party.