Something that will help the Kerry campaign..

[Tellurian]

An unbiased opinion by:

Linguistics professor George Lakoff at the Free Speech Movement Café.

Framing the issues: UC Berkeley professor George Lakoff tells how conservatives use language to dominate politics

Q...Do any of the Democratic Presidential candidates grasp the importance of framing?

None. They don't get it at all. But they're in a funny position. The framing changes that have to be made are long-term changes. The conservatives understood this in 1973. By 1980 they had a candidate, Ronald Reagan, who could take all this stuff and run with it. The progressives don't have a candidate now who understands these things and can talk about them. And in order for a candidate to be able to talk about them, the ideas have to be out there. You have to be able to reference them in a sound bite. Other people have to put these ideas into the public domain, not politicians. The question is, How do you get these ideas out there? There are all kinds of ways, and one of the things the Rockridge Institute is looking at is talking to advocacy groups, which could do this very well. They have more of a budget, they're spread all over the place, and they have access to the media.

Right now the Democratic Party is into marketing. They pick a number of issues like prescription drugs and Social Security and ask which ones sell best across the spectrum, and they run on those issues. They have no moral perspective, no general values, no identity. People vote their identity, they don't just vote on the issues, and Democrats don't understand that. Look at Schwarzenegger, who says nothing about the issues. The Democrats ask, How could anyone vote for this guy? They did because he put forth an identity. Voters knew who he is.

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/10/27_lakoff.shtml

...Kerry should hire Professor Lakoff. The professor is right on the mark...It's not Kerry per se that is a problem. The problem is the way we (collective "we") think and communicate to the masses... And the primary reason why Reagan is known as the "Great Communicator."

[MontecitoDem]

1. Great snip

thanks for that. For the most part I think he nails it.

It made me think of when I saw Gen. Clark in Tucson, and what so appealed to me at that speech. He kept talking about how we Democrats are REALLY the party of "family values." And he went through education, healthcare, the environment, protecting the elderly and the out-of-work, etc. as what it means to have family values. I'm kind of a cynic, but I almost got weepy during that speech. Probably because as a Democrat I have been longing to hear somebody frame the issues that way.

Anyway, thanks for the post!

[Tellurian]

3. Great, if you read the link, Lakoff defines the Democrats as nurturers

and explained it just as you described..

Lakoff calls the Pugs, the "Strict Father"..

He simplifies understanding 'what makes the adversaries tick' much easier.

[Tellurian]

4. kick~

[Tellurian]

2. The link and original material was taken from JohnOneillsMemory LBN

here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x602189#602694



I thought his links were very insightful and an
important consideration into getting our message
across to the masses, if we are to be successful.

We shouldn't spare the horses,
We can't afford another loss.