I fully believe the main difference in messaging involves the "We see you" republican approach compared to the "We see us" democratic approach. I have no illusion that Trump or the republican party see anyone in any real way but they do a great job of communicating that they do. Kamala Harris and the democrats made no discernable effort to connect with everyman.
Another issue, I believe, is that we are living in an era of story and "relationship." Republicans seem to have better stories, true or not, than democrats. They also have a single person, with whom people can allegedly relate, manifesting what they seem to value. That's relationship. Democrats present as unrelatable in many ways and there is no single person in whom people can invest. I'm not saying this is healthy or right. There is nothing genuine in the "relationship" the republican party offers and I think the faux connection will hurt the party in the long run. But they sell this well, and I assume, very intentionally. Democrats can learn something from this. I would just hope that if they do, it's actually something real that they offer and not just a marketing strategy.
In addition, the republican party wears being common and ordinary as a badge. That resonates with ordinary people of all backgrounds and since nearly everyone is ordinary, it's a big deal. The democrats seem to be in a detached circlejerk reveling in their superior intelligence and knowledge of all things. It's even shown up in this thread. I'm not unintelligent, having earned a terminal degree (which I think is really as much about opportunity and persistence as intelligence) but I'm not an expert in everything. I'm not a climate scientist. I'm not an economist. I'm not an expert in geopolitics. I can research those topics and I do. I believe I have informed opinions on them. But, expecting everyone to study everything is unreasonable. If I was doing any work with either party, I'd encourage them to provide some scaffolding for ordinary people, like me, to understand these concepts in such a way as they can make an informed decision. Assuming people are not intelligent enough to understand these things is inaccurate, condescending, and an ineffective political posture to take.
Also, the appeal that both major parties make to outliers is frustrating and a terrible way to write policy. "Border-crossers" killing suburban, white women is an outlier. 12 year-olds having abortions is an outlier. That messaging seems to work with the already decided but it's abhorrent to me. It's the opposite of addressing the "middle." What is normative? What can we do to make things better for everyone, as much as that's possible? There is little appeal to that made by either side.
The fact that the people have ceded power to the two major candidates who ran for president is discouraging. It's embarrassing to me that these were our options.
Finally, I have zero belief that anyone at the higher levels of politics has any interest at all in the well-being and opportunities of people in this country. My bias is that they are all about themselves, power acquisition, and generating perpetually increasing financial resources. Maybe I'm a cynic. But I will own that. I'm the voter many people hate. I couldn't vote for either with any integrity. That's just me though. I don't question the integrity or rationale of anyone else's voting decisions.
Real change happens at the grassroots level. I don't hope for and wait for policy changes made by unaffected politicians. I just do my work and place my hope in having a positive impact on the people and communities with whom I engage.
