Age of Reason

Strategery: A Summary of Lakoff's

The elements:

(1) Realize that conservatives have been beating progressives largely because they have done a much better job of imposing their frames on the public consciousness.
(2) "If you keep their language and their framing and just argue against it, you lose because you are reinforcing their frame."
(3) "The truth alone will not set you free" i.e. will not win arguments. "Frame the truths effectively from your perspective."
(4) "Speak from your moral perspective at all times. Progressive policies follow from progressive values. Get clear on your values and use the language of values."
(5) "Understand where conservatives are coming from. Get their strict father morality and its consequences clear. Be able to explain why they believe what they believe. Try to predict what they will say."
(6) "Think strategically across multiple issue areas, in terms of large moral goals."
(7) Think ahead about the consequences of your agenda. Use slippery slopes. Both "partial-birth" abortion and tax cuts that starve the government of money are examples of this.
(8) "Always remember that voters vote their identity and their values." 99% of Republicans demostrably vote against their self-interest. That's probably a good measure of how few Americans of all stripes let their votes be driven by their self-interest. Very few.
(9) Unite with other progressives.
(10) "Be proactive, not reactive.... Practice framing every day, on every single issue."
(11) "Speak to the progressive base in order to activate the nurturant model of swing voters. Don't move to the right. Rightward movement hurts in two ways: it alienates the progressive base and helps conservatives by activating their model in swing voters." (Besides, as Morat put it, 'There's no stopping it. There's no "moving rightward enough", there's no "compromise". It's 100% support, or they bring out the traitor baton.')

posted by conchis @ 2:25 AM