I've watched in awe as the right transformed a crisis of the market into a crisis of public spending
An excellent piece in the Guardian about Cameron's deft propaganda campaign.
snip
Since Lehman Brothers went under, I've watched in awe as the right transformed a crisis of the market into a crisis of public spending. Even as a battery of cuts suck jobs and growth out of the economy, Cameron's Tories still define the political debate. Despite winning just 36% of the vote, they look increasingly like Britain's third radically transformative government since the war – the other two being the Attlee and Thatcher administrations.
How are they getting away with it? Having a supine media and an opposition still lacking a coherent alternative helps. But I have to hand it to them: this government has one of the most effective propaganda machines of modern times. If Cameron was to pen a book explaining his secrets, he could blow Machiavelli's The Prince out of the water. While he mulls it over, I'll suggest some key tips.
snip
Third, clothe radical ideas in the language of moderation. Thatcher had an abrasive style, to say the least: all that "the enemy within", "no such thing as society" and "No! No! No!" From the outset, a coalition can easily present itself as inherently consensual and full of compromise. But Cameron is going where Thatcher never even dared – on cuts and the NHS, for example – and yet seems far more reasonable than his party's adored Iron Lady. As opposition leader, Cameron galavanted around the Arctic with huskies, got mocked for wanting to "hug a hoodie" and replaced the Tory logo with a tree. He uses the language of the "centre ground" – a term politicians of all stripes use to define their policies as normal, sane and moderate, and anybody who believes differently is so politically unhinged they're not even worth engaging with.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/13/david-cameron-cynical-propaganda
