![U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry walks with former Vice President Al Gore after they heard a series of speeches on December 12, 2015, at the COP21 climate change conference at LeBourget Airport in Paris, France. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://authorcollaborator.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Secretary_Kerry_Walks_with_Former_President_Gore_Following_A_Series_of_Speeches_at_the_COP21_Climate_Change_Conference_23671385346.jpg)
America’s Founders recognized a problem for representative democracy: average voters might not understand the skills needed for administration and leadership. A person good at winning popular votes might not be good at governing.
Today, we live the nightmare of the demagogic politics the Founders feared.
For political copy writers and comms consultants, figuring out how good candidates can compete in this environment is hard—and critically important. We need simple, compelling language about hope, unity, and progress. But hatred is an easier sell.
Americans cheer elite athletes. No one prefers a mediocre doctor, plumber, or general. Boards choose the CEO best at making money—not someone they’d like to have a beer with.
But pop culture disdains intelligence and education. No politician can afford to be seen as too smart—look at Al Gore, John Kerry, or even the first President Bush. Serious discussions make many voters resentful and distrustful, as we often feel when hearing something we don’t understand.
Middle America is poorly educated. Fifty-four percent of adults read at a sixth-grade level or below. The Associated Press writes at an eighth-grade level. This newsletter clocks in at ninth grade.
I know I will be accused of snobbery, so I’m glad I’m don’t plan to run for anything. Politicians have to lie constantly about the wisdom of their constituents. The truth is, most voters don’t understand major government decisions or how they are made.
Our system was always based on the need for average people to choose leaders who are above average to handle problems they cannot.
In the twentieth century, we relied partly on information gatekeepers to accomplish this. The news media screened candidates, who could only reach mass audiences through their outlets. Reporters tore down or silenced those who were unstable, immoral, ignorant, or just plain dumb.
When the news media collapsed, we elected a president with all four qualities. He communicated his noxious lies directly. Educational level is the sharpest demographic divider between MAGA Republicans and other Americans.
Candidates seeking to govern positively, in the tradition of American democracy, need a new language that people can understand and that makes them feel a part.
The first step is to discard consultant-speak, flowery oratory, and anything with jargon, multisyllabic words, or complex sentence structure. Boil it down to short words that punch hard.
Clients resist me as much about simplifying language as anything I teach. Truly, you do give up both meaning and style by reducing your reading level to the sixth grade. But you lose all communication when readers don’t understand your words, or skip your writing online as too hard.
Everyone’s goal should be an education system in red states as well as blue that serves every child eager to succeed. That’s the long-term solution.
We can only get there by talking to voters in a way they understand.
“Schools help kids. I love schools. Vote for me to help your kids.” (That’s second-grade level.)
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