The Democratic National Committee (DNC) unveiled a new logo and tagline during the week of Sept. 20 as part of an effort to protect the party’s congressional majority in this year’s midterm election.
Party leaders said they’re trying to let voters know that the Democratic Party is truly the party of the people. DNC Chairman Tim Kaine, former governor of Virginia, told the AFRO that when the party looked at their former logo, they saw something that reflected a party-centric focus instead of a logo that showed the party was open. He says the new logo, a light-blue capital “D” surrounded by a royal blue circle, shows that the party is more people-oriented.
“When you emphasize DNC, you’re more emphasizing the committee, but when you emphasize Democrats, you’re more emphasizing the logo,” Kaine said. “The shift in the logo from DNC to D is a little bit more about emphasizing the focus rather than the structure and that was important.”
The DNC also revamped its Web site, www.democrats.org. The site now automatically shows political races in a viewer’s area, and tells potential voters were to register in their area.
However, the logo and Web site are secondary to the party’s new theme, “Change that Matters.” The slogan picks up the theme from the Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, a message that Kaine said is still relevant given the Republican platform.
“We want to paint a very clear choice between the Democratic Party that has been doing very heavy lifting to turn the economy around; to stop operations in one theater of war and then begin planning for stopping operations in the other and for advancing on key priorities – whether it’s health reform, the student loan program or protecting people from runaway financial institutions or credit card abuses,” Kaine said.
The same week, Republicans issued their 48-page “Pledge to America.” In the pledge, Republicans take a shot at Obama and the Democratic majority on Capitol Hill.
“An unchecked executive, a compliant legislature, and an overreaching judiciary have combined to thwart the will of the people and overturn their votes and their values, striking down longstanding laws and institutions and scorning the deepest beliefs of the American people,” the document states in part.
