Lakoff: Why Conservatives Sell Their Wildly Destructive Ideology Better Than Democrats

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/155912/lakoff%3A_why_conservatives_sell_their_wildly_destructive_ideology_better_than_democrats/

***SNIP

Where Romney talks morality (conservative style), Obama mainly talks policy. Where Romney reframes Obama, Obama does not reframe Romney. In fact, he reinforces Romney's frames in the first part of his speech by repeating Romney's language word for word -- without spelling out his own values explicitly.

***SNIP

Romney calls free enterprise "one of the greatest forces of good this world has ever known." In reality, America free enterprise has always required The Public.

Romney attacks The Public, speaking of "the heavy hand of government" and "the invisible boot of government." The contrast is with the putative "invisible hand" of the market -- which leads to the good of all if everyone follows their self-interest and the market's natural force is not interfered with. Romney's "invisible boot" evokes the image of a storm trooper's boot on your neck. The government is the storm trooper, your enemy. You are weak and in an impossible position. You can't move -- a metaphor for being held back and not being able to freely engage in the economy. Romney uses the frame consistently: "The federal establishment," he says," has never seemed so hostile." The Public is an "establishment" -- an undemocratic institution -- which is the enemy of the people. It is implicit in this frame that the government is not the people.

***SNIP

Conservatives talk endlessly about "cutting spending." The president uses the same frame: "I've signed a law that cuts spending and reduces our deficit by $2 trillion.

Language is important here, as well as policy. "Spending" is a conservative term; it suggests a needless draining of financial resources, a waste of money. But most of that money was "invested" in our people or used to maintain our infrastructure -- not just "spent". Though a tax reduction for working families may very well have been a good idea, the term "cutting taxes" is a conservative term, suggesting that taxes in general are bad and should be "cut."

There is of course a deeper problem here. Anyone this me-too-conservatism might appeal to would most likely vote for a real conservative over Obama.


*** it is lakoff -- so take with what ever size grain of salt you think is appropriate.

but if messaging is a problem for dems -- he is hitting a few nails here.

[rfranklin]

1. Framing is the problem and if you use their terminology, you have lost the argument...

Democrats have to use the words that provide a completely different vision.

[liberal N proud]

2. Romney attacks The Public and the public likes it

Americans are masochist

[daybranch]

3. Lakoff is right, I have tested his framing in thousands of calls and hundreds of door to door visit

I too became very worried that the President was doing himself an injustice with his I am concerned about the deficit too issue type framing. I also became aware that his I have made 4.2 million jobs would not be convincing since most respondents would want to compare that to what the unidentified Businessman- Mitt Romney would promise- which is like the tea party-- he is bad and I can do everything without having to put any plans before the people.
What I eventually came to recognize is like Lakoff says voting is emotional and those emotions are stirred by an invisible picture put into the voters minds. I then started to paint a picture into the minds of voters by reminding them that this country is built upon shared values of communities helping each other of individuals joining together to do something important. I remind them that the biggest problem for the US is the rich are paying very low taxes- something on the order of 16 percent. I ask them how fair this is and tell them our country would have the money we need to invest in jobs and educating our children if we taxed the rich more. If they tell me that the rich are job creators, I tell them that they the consumers are the job makers and as an entrepreneur I only started businesses in the belief that they would consume and I could make a profit. I also-tell them I hired according to need which was based on the possibility of more consuming on their part and more sales and profit on mine. I also tell them I only refer to God as a creator and that trying to invoke that image in protecting the rich from taxes is sinking very low, but then maybe the rich are the god of the republican politicians in Washington and other places. (I specifically use the word p0politicians because it connotes a dishonest person in many minds). I then go on to ask how they feel about our President . Note I do not ask are they going to vote for President Obama. Many times I get the statement that he is not doing enough or not doing anything. I tell them that I used to get upset with the pace of change but then as I watched what was going on I saw the President having to contend with the ankle biting republicans and blue dog democrats who tried to stop and or water down any thing he does, but I still see him working for the people and making Banks and Wall Street unhappy. I ask why they think Mitt gets so much money from Wall Street if they do not plan to get it back. I end by saying if you consider the mess he inherited and those paid off politicians in Washington who fight him so hard , he is doing a pretty good job under the circumstances.

[CJCRANE]

5. Great post, good advice. nt

[Doctor_J]

4. Liberals and progressives definitely elected an appeasing, "centrist" president, but

if we had 1200 radio stations broadcasting our propaganda 24/7, it would be our framing that would be the norm.

Simple solution to the fascist march: Obliterate hate radio.