Inside the Frame.. a little primer on framing.

[MissMarple]

http://www.alternet.org/story/17574

Reasonable conservatives and people in the middle will listen to you if you say it in a way they can relate to. How we say something is as important as what we say. George Lakoff has some very good suggestions.

Here's a snip:

"Even if people feel that they've been screwed around, lied to -- abused in a public policy sense by the Bush administration -- they know Bush is going to go bomb the hell out of anyone that's really or allegedly trying to hurt us. Therefore, they'll run to him. How does a Democrat break through that and say, "We can provide the security"?

Wrong. Wrong way to talk and wrong way to think. The first way to break through that is to talk about the promise of America, the hope of America -- what is powerful and loving about the country -- to be positive, to break through the fear, because the fear is what evokes it. You have to project an image of love and warmth, and happiness and hope. That's the first thing. You don't feed the fear. Safety is a part of that, and you can point out that the Bush administration has betrayed its trust in not attending to making us safe. The PATRIOT Act doesn't make us safer. They're cutting money for firefighters and police officers. They're not making our harbors safe. They're not making chemical plants safe. Safety and protection are important. Protection is part of a "Nurturant model," and you have to be a strong, protective parent if you're a nurturer, and you have to come across as a strong protector.

You say, "You know, they've betrayed our trust. They're not really protecting us. Have we been protected in Iraq? There were no weapons of mass destruction there in the first place. They weren't protecting us from that, and they lied to us. They betrayed our trust there. And here's why."

Then you say why they really went into Iraq, which is largely on the basis of their self-interest, and why they got into this mess. Have they really made us safer? The answer is no. We're not safer than we were before."

And yes, I just finished "don't think of an elephant! Know Your Values and Frame the Debate" and am starting "Moral Politics". Both are by George Lakoff. Howard Dean loves this guy. The Dems are learning how to frame the debate using traditonal American values, not neocon talking points... but we have a lot of work to do. This is just starting.

And
A tutorial on framing by George Lakkoff:
http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/perspectives/simple_framing