DFL Chairman Ken Martin: “Our Brand Is $#!%”

Saint Paul, Minn. – In a candid interview that aired on “This American Life” this weekend, Minnesota DFL Chairman Ken Martin admitted that the his party’s “brand is [expletive deleted]. Our brand is toxic,” adding that “people don’t know what the heck it is.” Martin was interviewed as part of a larger story looking at the Democratic’s Party’s lack of a message headlining in to the 2018 midterm elections.

“DFL Chairman Ken Martin proved the old adage that ‘a broken clock is right twice a day’ when he confessed that his party’s brand is ‘toxic,’” said John Rouleau, Executive Director of the MN Jobs Coalition. “While Minnesota’s top Democrat may be correct that his party’s brand is ‘toxic,’ he’s mistaken in believing that people don’t know what the party stands for. Minnesotans know that Democrats stand for higher taxes and unaffordable healthcare, which is why voters put Republicans in charge of the state legislature in the last election.”

“This American Life” Transcript:

Starts at 28:30 in Act II

MARTIN: “Our brand is [expletive deleted]. Our brand is toxic. People don’t know what the heck it is. If you got a hundred Democrats in this room right now, and ask them what the Democratic Party stands for, you’d get a hundred different answers. There’s no consistency. No one knows what the Democratic Party is. You got a hundred Republicans in here, by and large you would get at least some consistency in what their party stands for. People need to have some clarity as to who the Democratic Party is, why we do what we do, why we care, and what we’re fighting for.”

REPORTER: “How anxious are you feeling for this moment?”

MARTIN: “I feel very anxious. I feel, you know, for the Democratic Party this is an existential moment.”

(Source: “Fighting Amongst Demselves,” ThisAmericanLife.Org, January 19, 2018)