Dems, Mind Your Demographics
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in General Politics, PollsShould new marketing research be a warning sign for the left’s message meisters? Some former pollsters seem to think so.
In the great debate about how Democrats can stage a comeback (beyond simply waiting for the coming Republican implosion that never seems to arrive), American Environics rejected some of the more popular recommendations out there. Rather than focusing on reframing the Democratic message, as Berkeley linguistics and cognitive science professor George Lakoff has recommended, or on redoubling Democratic efforts to persuade Americans to become economic populists, as another school of thought suggests, the American Environics team argued that the way to move voters on progressive issues is to sometimes set aside policies in favor of values. By focusing on “bridge values,� they say, progressives can reach out to constituents of opportunity who share certain fundamental beliefs, even if the targeted parties don’t necessarily share progressives’ every last goal. In that assessment, Shellenberger and Nordhaus are representative of an increasingly influential school of thought within the Democratic Party.
I’ve always thought Lakoff’s ideas were pretty shallow. Yeah, start talking about it differently…yeah…that’s going to help.
Now, this is not to say that Lakoff’s ideas don’t have some value. They do…but they certainly aren’t enough. Not by a long shot. There needs to be something else…some meat on the bones, if you will.
The reality is that people are too well connected to information nowadays and they can see if the Dems are backing up their words with real actions. The conservatives could trade on people’s ignorance back in the day because the internet wasn’t so pervasive. And sure, both parties still prey on people’s ignorance, but you can’t recreate the orchestrated linguistic bravado of right-wing noise machine that started in the 80s. It just won’t work.
More from The American Prospect.
(h/t: Joshua from the comments section)
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January 20th, 2006 at 9:50 am
In the great debate about how Democrats can stage a comeback (beyond simply waiting for the coming Republican implosion that never seems to arrive), American Environics rejected some of the more popular recommendations out there. Rather than focusing on reframing the Democratic message, as Berkeley linguistics and cognitive science professor George Lakoff has recommended, or on redoubling Democratic efforts to persuade Americans to become economic populists, as another school of thought suggests, the American Environics team argued that the way to move voters on progressive issues is to sometimes set aside policies in favor of values. By focusing on “bridge values,� they say, progressives can reach out to constituents of opportunity who share certain fundamental beliefs, even if the targeted parties don’t necessarily share progressives’ every last goal. In that assessment, Shellenberger and Nordhaus are representative of an increasingly influential school of thought within the Democratic Party.
I’ve always thought Lakoff’s ideas were pretty shallow. Yeah, start talking about it differently…yeah…that’s going to help.
I think you’ve misread the paragraph you’ve quoted. This research isn’t coming from Lakoff – it’s coming from the American Environics outfit which is challenging Lakoff’s approach.
In any event, you’re right that the Dems need to back up whatever campaign strategy they employ with concrete action. Of course, it’s hard to do that as a minority party in both houses of Congress and without the White House. To win those, they need a new campaign strategy. (Chicken, meet Egg.) At least the approach suggested by the American Environics outfit is a good starting point to this end.
January 20th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
Respectfully, I didn’t misread it. I’m saying that they’re correct. Lakoff’s idea are weak and Dems need something else…aka American Environics’ recommendations. Sure, I don’t say that explicitly, but I feel it’s certainly suggested in a “between the lines” kind of way.
January 20th, 2006 at 12:54 pm
What would the “bridge values” be in the Environics recommendation?
January 20th, 2006 at 1:10 pm
They’ll be releasing their findings soon, but it’s already suggested that they’ll be game changing for the Dems and the Repubs. That fact alone means we should take note beyond just using effective linguist techniques.
But hey, I could be wrong. Something tells me though that these recommendations will be very important to the future success of each party.
January 20th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
I’ve tried an analysis of Lakoff from a conservative point-of-view. I’m not looking for a fight, but I would be interested in getting feedback from those who are more sympathetic to his politics.
http://lawnrangers.blogspot.com/2006/01/george-lakoff-frames-progressive.html