Don’t Say Liberal, Progressive, or Woke. BRAND the Real Enemy: Democrats.
Excellent messaging advice for the coming midterms from the legendary Richard Viguerie, inventor of political direct mail and "Funding Father" of the Conservative Movement.
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by Richard A. Viguerie
June 16, 2026
I have written about this issue before, but with the midterms approaching, I thought it bears repeating. It’s so very, very important.
STOP saying liberal. STOP saying woke. STOP saying progressive, Socialist, or Marxist.
Those words don’t appear on any ballot. Not anywhere, unless you live in Vermont and Bernie Sanders is running.
The word that appears on election ballots is DEMOCRAT.
We need to be perfectly clear. Those who are causing most all of America’s serious problems are DEMOCRATS.
The vast majority of our political crises and problems are caused by people who either identify as Democrats or vote Democrat.
Once something is branded — whether positive or negative — it sticks. Like Super Glue, that label is hard to shake. Whenever you speak, write, or post, identify our political opponents as DEMOCRATS.
That’s why we must BRAND the Democrat Party as anti-God, anti-America, violent, and the party of Big Government, elite socialists and Marxists: because they are. If we do not define them, they will define themselves, deceitfully.
Charlie Kirk’s assassination brought those stakes into painful focus.
Charlie dedicated his life to building a new generation of young conservative leaders, mobilizing millions of young conservatives to engage in civilized, peaceful discussions and debates. His loss is a call to action for us to brand the Democrat Party’s policies so clearly and permanently that voters will never again be misled by their rhetoric.
Your every conversation, email, blog, podcast, newsletter, fundraising letter, website, and media appearance is a chance to BRAND the Democrats as the cause of most of America’s problems.
Right now, the Democrat Party is confused, weak, and angry. That gives us conservatives a rare, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to push it toward the ash heap of history.
But don’t be fooled and assume the Democrats will stay this way heading into the 2026 midterms, 2028 presidential election, or far beyond. History shows they usually find a way to bounce back, unless we effectively and quickly BRAND them as so toxic that voters will never again trust them.
Charlie’s murder was not an isolated incident. It is part of a dangerous and continuing pattern of political violence driven by the international Left. But this is nothing new.
From the French Revolution’s guillotine mobs to the Bolshevik Revolution to today’s Antifa rioters, the Left has always used violence and intimidation to silence opponents and seize power. It’s in their DNA and a continuation of a centuries-old pattern.
After George Floyd’s death, Democrat-led protests caused over $2 billion in damage and 25 deaths. Contrast that with Charlie Kirk’s murder. There were no riots or deaths; only hundreds of prayer vigils, including a peaceful, faith-based memorial service attended by 100,000 and watched by 100,000,000. The only “damage” came from opponents defacing makeshift memorials in his honor.
Conservative speakers on college campuses face harassment and are often cancelled, under the excuse of “inadequate security,” with student groups forced to pay thousands in security fees just to host them.
President Trump has survived three assassination attempts, one of which nearly killed him, left a rallygoer dead, and injured several others.
A Bernie Sanders supporter from Belleville, Illinois attempted to kill as many Republican members of Congress as he could while they were practicing on a baseball field for the annual Congressional Baseball Game. The Republican House Minority Leader, Steve Scalise, was seriously wounded and 24 Republican Congressional members were only saved from being murdered by an alert security guard.
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was targeted by a transexual man in 2022, who admitted he intended to assassinate three conservative Supreme Court Justices to “alter the constitutional order” so that three Democrat justices could be appointed in their place.
In August 2012, an LGBTQ+ volunteer attempted to kill more than 20 employees at Family Research Council’s Washington, D.C. headquarters but was stopped by a security guard who was critically wounded.
Throughout the first half of 2025, hundreds of Teslas nationwide were destroyed or defaced in a wave of firebombing, arson, and vandalism during anti-Elon Musk, anti-DOGE protests intended to intimidate both Musk and those who might support him.
It’s not just violent acts either. Time and again, Democrats’ own words have fueled this hostility:
Senator Chuck Schumer threatened Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, saying, “you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price” if they restricted abortion rights.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters urged supporters to harass Trump Cabinet officials, telling them to make sure those officials were “not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker compared the Trump administration to Nazi Germany, warning that it took the Nazis just 53 days to “dismantle a constitutional republic.”
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, just days after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, called President Trump a “wannabe Hitler.”
Former President Joe Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris labeled Trump a “fascist.”
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib claimed that the MAGA movement was “a violent, fascist insurrection.”
None of these are random “Woke” people, “Progressives”, or “Socialists”. They are leading Democrats. Their supporters are too. We need to say so.
When Democrats demonize conservatives as Nazis or fascists, they give license to extremists who take those words literally. Convince people someone is “the next Hitler,” and violence no longer seems extreme: it feels necessary and justified.
The connection is clear: nearly every crisis Americans face today stems directly from Democrat policies. If we move quickly and effectively while people are paying close attention to the news, we can show that the problems worrying or angering them, the very problems Trump is working to fix, are the result of those Democrat policies, including:
Open borders intentionally letting in millions of unvetted illegal aliens, many with criminal backgrounds.
A crushing national debt to be paid by our children and grandchildren.
Over 100,000 drug deaths a year from Chinese-produced fentanyl smuggled through Mexico.
Men invading women’s sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms.
DEI being forced on our military, colleges, and corporations.
CRT indoctrinating schoolchildren that America is a racist nation, that white people are inherently and irredeemably racist, and that all others are literally incapable of racism, regardless of what they believe or do.
Grade school kids exposed to drag queens, pornography, and obscene books.
A war on God, religion, and religious liberty.
A war on law enforcement, leaving us with fewer cops on the streets.
Inner cities that resemble war zones leading to the death of tens of thousands of Americans, mostly under 30, instead of safe communities for families.
Federal agencies like the FBI, IRS, CIA, DOJ, and Military weaponized against conservatives.
Soft-on-crime prosecutors letting criminals walk free.
Etc., etc.
If we BRAND Democrat politicians and the Democrat Party as the cause of most of America’s problems, we’ll be in good shape in future elections, whether for the White House, Congress, state house, state legislature, school boards, or city hall.
For decades, Democrats successfully BRANDED Republicans as the party of the rich, Wall Street, and “trickle-down” economics. They smeared Republicans as heartless, ready to take away Social Security, Medicare, even going so far as to unplug Grandpa’s oxygen machine and put Grandma out in the cold.
All lies, but effective lies. Democrats won many elections with these lies.
Imagine the impact on next year’s midterm elections if by telling the truth, through consistent BRANDING of the Democrats, we help millions of people become modern-day Paul Revere Riders, spreading the truth to 25-50 of their family, friends, and neighbors that most of our national problems are caused by Democrats.
Add to that the reach of tens of thousands of other conservative leaders doing the same, and then tens of millions of low-information voters will head to the polls with one thought stuck in their minds:
DEMOCRATS ARE ANTI-GOD, ANTI-AMERICA, VIOLENT, BIG GOVERNMENT, ELITE SOCIALISTS/MARXISTS.
Because they are.
No matter the platform you use, your message should be the same: DEMOCRATS ARE THE PROBLEM.
If that happens, conservatives will win a landslide in 2026 — increasing their majorities in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, adding governors, state officials, state legislators, and city and county leaders across America.
Democrats are not just our political opponents. They have launched a SPIRITUAL CIVIL WAR against traditional, Judeo-Christian values, just as they once launched a literal Civil War to keep their slaves and destroy America. They want to replace our Constitutional Republic with a one-party socialist/Marxist state, and ultimately a one-world government run by elites.
This is what they call “Our Democracy”?
Charlie showed how powerful BRANDING can be when one leader gives millions of young people the tools to speak the truth boldly. His example should inspire us to keep pressing forward, louder and stronger.
Of course, not every Democrat politician has called for violence. But every politician who has smeared conservatives as fascists or Nazis carries the Democrat label.
(By the way, Nazi is an abbreviation for National Socialist German Workers Party, and the Nazis were also known as fascists. Nazis and fascists are people of the Left, not the Right.)
The party’s leadership is increasingly aligned with and composed of radicals, and it is their destructive policies, rhetoric, and agenda dragging America toward ruin. That is why we must brand the Democrat Party, not just individuals or ideologies, as the source of our nation’s problems.
Every political word you speak, every political message you send, BRAND the Democrat Party. From the podcast to the pulpit, blog to the backyard, BRAND the Democrats, because the identification on the ballot is always DEMOCRAT.
— For more outstanding marketing and messaging insight from the legendary Richard Viguerie, sign up for his Monthly Marketing Memo at Conservative HQ.
Great advice from a legendary culture warrior. Thanks for posting it.
Spot on, Richard. Democrats are hateful👿, intolerant and violent anti Americans. They are repulsive🤮🤮