Posted on 04/02/2005 10:06:42 PM PST by CHARLITE
Soon after the November elections leading Democrats agreed that the party was ailing and in dire need of a new direction, a new focus, new ideas to lead it forward. "It's critical we realize why the electorate voted the way it did," Representative Bob Menendez, of New Jersey, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said of the party's devastating loss in the presidential election and its setbacks in both houses of Congress. In February, House Democratic lawmakers held a retreat in Virginia to hash out what to do next.
Something miraculous happened. They recovered—or at least they're behaving that way. Setting aside all the frank talk about the need to re-examine fundamentals, they identified an altogether different sort of affliction. The Democrats returned from Virginia not with an exit strategy for Iraq or a national-security blueprint or an economic policy but with a book—Don't Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate, by George Lakoff, a linguist at the University of California at Berkeley. Lakoff's seductive thesis is that how you frame an idea largely determines the response to it. George Miller, a California congressman and an enthusiastic disciple, gave a copy to each member of the caucus, and the notion that "messaging" lies at the heart of the Democrats' woes has had growing currency in the party ever since.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
How ironic - you can't judge a book by its cover - unless its about liberal policy, thats different.
"Framing" is simply another way of describing rhetorical techniques that are as old as politics. This version of it is particularly shallow, consisting exclusively of repackaging abstractions. Abstractions make for lovely bumper stickers, but they don't win political campaigns. Programs do. And repackaging abstractions to hide the fact that the Dems don't have any original programs is a ticket to failure.
Dems continue to not get it. Big surprise.
........or having a couple of REALLLY BAD messages........like "wrong war, wrong place, wrong time..." and "....we must pass the GLOBAL TEST."
In my mind, that one statement, which I believe Kerry made in the 2nd or 3rd debate, amounted to the coup de grace. He was toast, after he made that one offensive, anti-American statement. That proved to anyone with average intelligence that he's part of Killery's "it takes a village" one world movement.....along with that marvelous naturalized communist Hungarian American, George Soros.
I wonder if Soros whispered into Kerry's ear, just before it was time to trot out onto the stage that night, "Don't forget to say that America always has to pass global tests, Johnny!"
When they controlled the Congress and FOX News didn't exist, their ideals were never challenged and they were drunk with power. All that has changed now and their desperation is on full display.
It's really quite simple, but the democrats haven't figured it out yet..... It's not what you say, it's what you stand for and the democrats stand for the culture of death, and government control
Sounds like Machiavellian uses of
NLP
strike again.
Lakoff's book is the ultimate example of the pot calling the kettle black. THEY'RE the ones who use double-speak to win people over to their cause: abortion becomes "Choice," socialism becomes "social justice" or "compassion," etc.
The problem for the evil donkey is that the dogs don't like the food!
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