Buzzwords: Rephrasing Obama's lexicon

LATimes ^ | May 11, 2009 | Peter Nicholas and Jim Tankersley

[CutePuppy]

In the debate over his top environmental goals, President Obama is backing away from "cap and trade."

Not the policy. It's the phrase itself, deemed confusing by Democratic pollsters, that has all but disappeared from the president's vocabulary of late.

Now when Obama talks about forcing companies to bid at auction for the right to emit greenhouse gases, he is more apt to mention "market-based" proposals and "clean energy jobs," hinting at a rich new employment source.

Control the language, politicians know, and you stand a better chance of controlling the debate. So the Obama administration, in its push to enact sweeping energy and healthcare policies, has begun refining the phrases it uses in an effort to shape public opinion.

Words that have been vetted in focus groups and polls are seeping into the White House lexicon, while others considered too scary or confounding are falling away.

Today, aides in Obama's Council on Environmental Quality will meet with a research and marketing group that is promoting an alternative to the phrase "global warming," which some pollsters say fails to capture the idea of greenhouse gases threatening the environment.

"There is value in trying to get the messaging right," said a senior White House environmental aide, who was not authorized to speak on the record. "Because at the end of the day this is tricky policy. ... We want to make sure we're talking in a way that people understand."

.....

Results of a recent poll by the Mellman Group were also shared with the White House. ... The survey tested 19 phrases and found "clean energy jobs" had the widest appeal, with 42% of the respondents "very enthusiastic" about it.

"Cap and trade," by contrast, ranked next to last, with only 7% registering enthusiasm.

.....

[CutePuppy]

Control the language, politicians know, and you stand a better chance of controlling the debate.

Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past - Ministry of Truth, George Orwell's 1984

[Steely Tom]

I’m sure the reason they’re re-working their language has something to do with the remarkable strength and irresistable persuasive power of their position.

[Always Right]

"There is value in trying to get the messaging right,"

More like, there is value in confusing the people so they think we are doing something completely different....T R A N S P A R E N C Y ! ! ! !

[1010RD]

I like the olden days when it was just called “lying”.

[roaddog727]

“Control the language, politicians know, and you stand a better chance of controlling the debate.”

Hmmmmmm. And what happens if we can get control of the teleprompter, cuz we know Barry Zer-O can’t speak without it..........

[6SJ7]

Control the language, politicians know, and you stand a better chance of controlling the debate. So the Obama administration, in its push to enact sweeping energy and healthcare policies, has begun refining the phrases it uses in an effort to shape public opinion.

According to the Government, this polar bear cub emits harmful greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming.

[CutePuppy]

I believe the operative term became "parsing", such as "it depends on what the meaning of the word is is".

Seriously, though, controlling and driving the message and defining the opponent(s) is extremely important and should not be discounted.

We [should] have learned this both from Clinton's PR machine, as well as from failures of HillaryCare, success of Gingrich's Contract with America and complete lack of coherent communication of GOP policies from two Bush administrations and Republican Congress (majority or minority).

[Steven Tyler]

Sooooo, American’s favour “market based” propsals and “jobs”. I guess this surprises Democrats/Socialists.
American’s continue to have Conservative core values!

[Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!]

[CutePuppy]

It is good to hear, but I don’t think it surprises Democrats, or they would not have to resort to focus groups or “listening tours” or push-polls with false choices for answers...

Democrats don’t give a hoot what the core values of majority are. What they really care about is knowing the language that people with core values use, only to use it against them, to lure and seduce the same people into supporting and/or “voting” for programs that will allow Democrats to continue to lie, cheat and steal from these Americans.

[Condor51]

Control the language ... and you stand a better chance of controlling the debate. So the Obama administration ... has begun refining the phrases it uses in an effort to shape public opinion.

"All warfare is based on deception." (Sun Tzu)

See Barry, I know what YOU'RE up to -- I read the dam book!

"If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles."

I'm now prolly on some fricken terrorist watch list. Well, whoop-dee-doo. Molon Labe baby!

[1010RD]

Agreed. We need a new contract to win. Bush for some reason refused to control the political thoughtspace and counter the lies of the Left.

The result is McCain, which result is Obama.

[libertarian27]

Hence my tagline

[CutePuppy]

:-) "INGSOC," eh?

Speaking of 1984:
The Democrats' Dictionary - Rasmussen Report, by Debra J. Saunders, May 10, 2009

Doublespeak is alive as Democrats pull the strings in the White House and Congress 24 years after 1984. What do they mean when they engage in Democrat-speak?

I know I'm not worthy, but I've got an assignment, so I shall borrow a page from Ambrose Bierce, not with a Devil's Dictionary, but a Democrats' Dictionary. The easy part: There's no dif.

Academic freedom: Full license to espouse liberal thought to unformed minds.

Bailout: Billions upon billions -- trillions really -- of government aid doled out to financial institutions to remind voters of the need for strong regulation.

Biden, Joe: Running-at-the-mouth politician, but, hey, he was elected vice president.

Bipartisanship: 40 Republicans and 60 Democrats.

Bush, George W.: Big-spending, war-waging Republican.

Cheney, Dick: Satan.

Clean coal: What Santa Claus puts in Democrats' stockings so they don't have to admit that their global-warming agenda is anti-coal.

Climate change: Global warming during a blizzard.

CNN. Unbiased news network whose reporters battle "right-wing" media.

Deficits: Overspending before 2009, or spending practices that President Obama inherited. For current usage, see: Investment.

Extremists: Abortion opponents.

Fox News: Unlike CNN, biased news network.

Global warming: An apocalyptic theory that every scientist believes in -- except dissenting scientists who don't count -- best bemoaned from one's Gulf Stream jet en route to an international conference on the environment.

God: What people in small towns clung to before Obama won the White House. See: guns, anti-immigrant or anti-trade beliefs.

Health care costs: A spiraling chunk of the U.S. economy that can be reduced by providing health care to all Americans. Really.

Homeland security: Gun control.

Iraq: An immoral war, once the focus of numerous anti-war demonstrations, which Democratic leaders vowed to end immediately upon winning the White House -- until Obama won the 2008 election.

Liberal: The L-word, a term unfairly hurled by name-calling right-wing kooks.

....