Messaging ("Framing") for 2012

Democrats and progressives are terrible about framing our own issues in our way; too often our leaders/spokespeople appear on the defensive, accepting a negative framing of some vote or issue as they try to defend against it. We need to get better at this.

The blog post that I've copied below, from Winning Words Project, is excellent in breaking down what "frames" (or messages) we should be getting out there, to affirmatively own our messages, rather than reactively. (More on framing, from me, here: Messaging, Framing)

Bad framing: David Axelrod on the President's economic message, and then, how he shoulda done it:

The below is from Crooks and Liars:

One of our objectives at The Winning Words Project is to help our elected officials, including (and especially!) the president, articulate the Progressive story so that it:

• Resonates with a wide audience, including Independents and those who fall in the middle of the political spectrum.
• Cuts the Republican smears off at the knees.
• Gives our policies the moral argument that's needed for their acceptance.
• Establishes our own frames without repeating Right Wing frames (which only reinforces them, even when used in debunking them).

Framing Occupy Wall Street - Lakoff

[WeCanOccupy and Occupy the Burbs's attempts to frame our efforts (pdf)]


(Below is an excerpt from George Lakoff: A Framing Memo for Occupy Wall Street)

A Moral Focus for Occupy Wall Street

I think it is a good thing that the occupation movement is not making specific policy demands. If it did, the movement would become about those demands. If the demands were not met, the movement would be seen as having failed.

We Love America. We're Here to Fix It

It seems to me that the OWS movement is moral in nature, that occupiers want the country to change its moral focus. It is easy to find useful policies; hundreds have been suggested. It is harder to find a moral focus and stick to it. If the movement is to frame itself, it should be on the basis of its moral focus, not a particular agenda or list of policy demands. If the moral focus of America changes, new people will be elected and the policies will follow. Without a change of moral focus, the conservative worldview that has brought us to the present disastrous and dangerous moment will continue to prevail.

Framing our values/winning the argument

the cinephile in me loves this 'frame'

(April 4, 2011, Maddow, "Winning the Argument": Yes. Exactly:)

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Framing OUR Values

• Lakoff, Words That Don’t Work | Common Dreams  (Dec. 7, 2011)
• Cheap Labor Conservatives: Perhaps it's a little harsh, but I think that the essential point is correct: the conservative's central ideology revolves around an economy that keeps a workforce dependent on whatever scraps the wealthy few are willing to share.
• George Lakoff, The Dems Need to Speak to Progressive Values, or Else Lose Badly Come November | News & Politics | AlterNet (Sept. 2, 2010) 
• Lakoff/Framing "Occupy Wall Street" (via DailyKos, 10/2011)
• Framing: The Key to ‘Selling’ Sustainable Ideals « Dan Smolen (Oct 2010) 

Framing, Conservative-style (see also Welcome to the Echochamber) 

• The Secret List Of 14 Words That Republicans Are Never Supposed To Use (Luntz's secret playbook) (10/30/2011)

Miscellaneous: 

• How the Press Erodes Our Belief in Government | The Nation (4/9/2012) http://bit.ly/GGAbdy

• The Righteous Mind,’ by Jonathan Haidt - NYTimes.com (REVIEW) (3/2012) http://nyti.ms/GSvkn4 
  
  
  
  

  Haidt argues that people are fundamentally intuitive, not rational. If you want to persuade others, you have to appeal to their sentiments. But Haidt is looking for more than victory. He’s looking for wisdom. That’s what makes “The Righteous Mind” well worth reading. Politics isn’t just about ­manipulating people who disagree with you. It’s about learning from them.

• N Kristof - Politics, Odors and Soap (3/22/2012) - NYTimes.com http://nyti.ms/GG0uEp
• Another way of putting it is this: Americans speak about values in six languages, from care to sanctity. Conservatives speak all six, but liberals are fluent in only three. And some (me included) mostly use just one, care for victims. “Moral psychology can help to explain why the Democratic Party has had so much difficulty connecting with voters,” writes Haidt, a former liberal who says he became a centrist while writing the book. 
• What the Left Gets Right - NYTimes.com (1/22/2012) 
• What the Right Gets Right - NYTimes.com (1/15/2012) 

Hilarious and on-point.  Colbert and Frank Luntz want to convince you People are Corporations (10/24/2011)

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