Reframe the debate or lose

[welshTerrier2]

we have a corrupt moron in the white house who has done long-term damage to our economy, our social safety net, our freedoms and our standing in the world ... we see endless documentation of all these things everyday on DU ... DU'ers understand the horrors bush has brought all too well ...

and where, after all of these tragedies, has the national dialog placed its focus? on Vietnam? on flip-flopping? on cocaine?

bush and rove have been incredibly effective reframing the debate ... it seems to me Kerry has been unsuccessful in making bush's miserable record of failures the central issue of the campaign ... is the media at fault for this? the truth is: IT DOESN'T MATTER !!! ... all that does matter is how the battle is framed ... until bush's failed economy, bush's failed war on terrorism, bush's giveaways to big corporations that export jobs, bush's assault on the environment, bush's tax cuts for the wealthy, bush's secretive regime with its restrictions on civil liberties and all the other nightmares bush has brought us become THE ISSUE, Kerry cannot grab the kind of crushing lead he should be enjoying ...

here's a great article on the subject of REFRAMING the debate ...

<snip>

"you can't change views merely with evidence. You have to change the frame."

<snip>

But the ordinary citizen is gulled by the stagecraft and numbed by the details. And if Kerry tries to explain the particulars, he plays policy wonk to Bush's John Wayne.

<snip>

In an ideal, civics book democracy, citizens would explore the details and vote based on the merits. But in our frantic, overworked daily lives, where talk show rants pass for public discourse, the truth gets buried by the rhetoric, and the imagery of leadership wins the day.

<snip>

So what on earth is John Kerry to do? He cannot possibly win a hearing to challenge all that is fake about Bush and his policy particulars unless he first changes the frame. First, he needs to reframe Bush by pounding on all the ways that Bush is a fraud, and he needs to do it with grace and wit. Second, he needs a clear, simple vision of a secure, prosperous America more compelling than Bush's vision.

[ewagner]

1. 6th Grade

A friend of mine has to write company brochures for use by the general public. The standard used is 6th grade reading level .

I used the same standard in writing newspaper ads for the company I worked for...........

the point: The message has to be tailored to the audience...and in most cases 6th grade level is the most understandable format.

[bigpathpaul]

5. Voter Persuasion. Candidate Comparison.

In everything I write and say, I make an attempt to persuade. I don't know if that's textbook correct, but it's the way I work best. When I write an ad or a Letter to the Editor, I'm aiming only above the 6th grade level (but not by that much). One of the things I'm working with now is compare and contrast. This is who John Kerry is. This is who George Bush is. Who represents what you think? Please take a look at the three ads below. In the first, I'm making a comparison, with all the negatives obviously in the Bush column. In #2 and #3 I make the comparison between the politics of hate/fear and the politics of hope.

Does any of this make any difference? I don't know, but it makes sense to me. It's what I might want to hear if I was on the fence. It may be too simplistic, it may be preaching to the choir.

I plan on making more of these so if people have a feeling, or even experience that this is a good or bad approach, I could use the input. I'm planning on devoting every minute of my spare time to this in the hope that a couple of these will reach one or two people in a precinct far, far away and at least make them think about it, and at best, make their choice clear.







The ads above, as well as others, are available as free, full-size, high-resolution JPEG or PDF downloads on my web site at http://www.bigpath.net. I hope you'll find them useful, and if you do, please forward, print, post, handout, carrier pigeon them to as many people as you can.

[no name no slogan]

2. Absolutely. We're still letting THEM set the debate

Hence all the brouhaha over Dubya's TANG records and the Swift Boat liars. All this pondering events of 35 years ago distract from the REAL problems in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Given Dubya's horrendous record and sub-50% approval rating, Kerry should have this race in the bag-- yet he's struggling to break even with him in most polls. The anti-Bush sentiment is already there, but Kerry's not doing well in transforming that into pro-Kerry sentiment.

Being "not Bush" will guarantee you 45% of the vote this year-- enough for a tie, maybe, but not a victory. You still need another 5% + 1 to WIN.

[OneBlueSky]

3. some of us have been saying this for months . . .

while I've often posted about the problem of allowing BushCo to "set the campaign agenda," "framing the debate" is probably a better way to describe it . . . to keep their record from becoming the issue, BushCo is making Kerry the issue . . . and quite successfully, I might add . . .

that's why I've advocated going after Bush "where he ain't lookin," i.e. with issues that he doesn't want raised but that can garner media attention and broad public support . . . three of my personal favorites are 1) Bush as an "environmental disaster"; 2) the use of DU weapons in Iraq and Afghanistan; and 3) Bush's private security force of mercenaries . . . but those are just my preferences; there are about a thousand alternatives that would do just as nicely . . .

the point is that, instead of reading the polls and concluding "this is what's on the voters' minds," the Kerry campaign must take Bush's weaknesses (and God knows they are legion) and PUT them into people's minds . . . Bush's record on the environment, for example, is a HUGE vulnerability, but it doesn't show up on the polls of what people are concerned about . . . why? . . . because NO ONE IS TALKING ABOOUT IT! . . . you can be damn well sure that Bush isn't going to raise it, so unless Kerry does, it will remain a non-issue . . . when it SHOULD be one of the central issues of the campaign . . .

Bush's environmental record is a crucial issue not only because of the need for clean air, clean water, and a non-toxic environment, but because it so clearly represents how BushCo "governs" -- by letting polluters write pollution laws, by giving away OUR natural resources to private industry for private profit, by unilaterally negating environmental treaties APPROVED BY THE SENATE, by letting oil companies secretly set energy policy, etc. . . it's an issue that reaches out in many different directions, all of which point to the corruption and sleaziness of this administration . . .

attacking Bush's environmental record (and all that that implies) is but one example of "re-framing the debate," which is something Kerry has not yet been able to do . . . that better change, and soon, or BushCo will win based on the issues that THEY have framed the debate around -- swift boats, National Guard memos, and whatever new sideshow issue is coming down the pike next week . . .

[welshTerrier2]

6. it so clearly represents how BushCo "governs"

I too have written on this theme extensively ...

the republicans like to talk about the "free market" ... they want to "govern" business by removing regulations that, as they say, drive up prices ...

but let's take a look at those regulations ... should big business be "free" from regulations that protect our American natural resources? should business be "free" to cut back on providing safe products and a safe working environment for their employees? should business be "free" to receive taxpayer financed contracts while exporting American jobs overseas?

it's easy to blame government and call for a "free" market ... government has been painted as an anti-business evil ... we are warned that if we don't cut back on many of these common sense regulations, the American economy will suffer ... well, after 4 years of bush, we've cut back on regulations that protect workers, consumers and most average Americans ... and just look at the results ... a worsening environmental crises ... jobs exported overseas ... increased business corruption and businesses that hide their headquarters offshore to evade paying their fair share of taxes ... and all this with the highest budget deficits in the country's history ...

George bush wants a "free" market that caters only to corporate profits ... John Kerry wants a "fair" market that serves the best interests of all the American people ...

[Strawman]

4. This is good stuff. I'm reading Moral Politics right now as well n/t

A litany of complaints just turns into background noise for the undecided voter. The Repugs can muddle the debate on "the issues" to a draw. Those issues will never be debated with any sort of depth necessary to allow the undecided public to come to defnitive conclusions about them, and they're probably not interested in listening.

[welshTerrier2]

7. consider this: it's the framework, stupid !!!

we spend a huge amount of time on DU building the case against bush ...

there was a time many of us believed if bush couldn't find WMD's in Iraq, he would be politically dead ... then we had Plame-gate ... surely this treasonous conduct would be the end of bush ... AWOL ... surely that would turn the military against bush ... Halliburton no-bid contracts? now we had him !!! if he lets Bin Laden escape, he's lost his "trump card" ... yeah, that worked out ...

the point is that while it is still very useful to "work the details", real victory lies elsewhere ...

Kerry seems to finally be awakening to this reality ... his message needs to become much sharper than it's been ...

here's an example of implementing this strategy as it relates to Iraq:

first, here's what we (and Kerry) have been doing:
1. no WMD's
2. PNAC (think many voters know what that means??)
3. Halliburton no-bid contracts
4. revenge against Joseph Wilson
5. failure to spend 90% of reconstruction funds ...

here's what's MORE IMPORTANT;
1. bush never understood Iraq
2. he went to war without a plan
3. the situation is getting much worse
4. democracy is not an option anytime soon
5. we are in a quagmire that's killing and critically wounded our troops

the first block contains facts; the second block contains themes ...

we need to "lead with themes" to build the framework ... the facts can then be delivered to "season" the themes ... starting with a framework gives context to the facts and makes them far more powerful because they work together to paint a broader picture of bush's failures ... arguing on a fact by fact basis lacks "cohesion and synergy" ... providing facts after a framework is established makes it much easier for voters to "connect the dots" ...

it's the framework, stupid !!!

[kentuck]

8. Bush treats the people as if they were 10-yr olds....

That's what he said... and he probably knows something about the voters that the Democrats are not aware of - that is, that the vast majority of voters do not want to hear any sophisticated arguments or any "big words" that they do not comprehend. Democrats need to simplify to appeal to the intelligence of the majority and they need to speak in simple emotional terms. Presently, they do not appeal to the common sense or intelligence of the nation. What a sad state of affairs.:)

[wicket]

9. great article!