Bush's radio address v Vilsack's; Does this ID a Dem mssg problem?

[Rose Siding]

The way both of today's addresses were framed presents an interesting contrast.

Bush's subject: "to share our blessings with the least among us."

Vilsack's: "Unfortunately, the blessing of abundant food is not shared by all Americans"


Bush is full of crap, of course, and his remarks were focused on the "privitazation" of the concept of the safety net, more or less. ("Bush Calls on Americans to Volunteer, Give") But he strokes the listener, basically telling them just to be who they are, because they are wonderful and generous:

``We also recognize our duty to share our blessings with the least among us,'' the president said. ``Throughout the holiday season, schools, churches, synagogues and other generous organizations gather food and clothing for their neighbors in need. Many young people give part of their holiday to volunteer at homeless shelters or food pantries.

``On Thanksgiving, and on every day of the year, America is a more hopeful nation because of the volunteers who serve the weak and the vulnerable.'' -See? It's like a done deal. 'We do ALREADY recognize..', 'a buncha places ALREADY gather...' 'America is ALREADY more hopeful'

Vilsack stresses the growing need, and the (accurate) implication is that we aren't doing what we should and that we must change ourselves:

"Unfortunately, the blessing of abundant food is not shared by all Americans," Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said. "A recent report from our Department of Agriculture documented an increase in hunger in America, particularly among our children."
........
"With these thoughts and prayers, we should rededicate ourselves to ensuring that all who've served our country receive the health and income benefits they have earned by their service."

The problem is that no one wants to admit that they are part of the problem and it's almost impossible to define deficiencies without beating people over the head for their own failures. I'd *like* to beat them over the head, and it would be great if the public responded like a group of well-adjusted, responsible adults. If they did, massaging their flaky lazy egos wouldn't be necessary. But that's not realistic.

How could Vilsack's remarks have been more complimentary of his audience? -NOT watered down, but respectful of their good qualities; qualities that will compel them to accomplish the desired end. Is that possible?

about Bush's address- http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4640077,00.html

and about Vilsack's- http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&e=1&u=/ap/20041127/ap_on_re_us/democrats_vilsack

[Hello_Kitty]

1. Many of the * supporters will be the "least among us" pretty soon.

So they better hope everyone else was listening to Vilsack.

[Donna Zen]

2. The Democrates have learned nothing.

Vilsack could have easily "framed" his message in the positive. Tell people what you want to happen, as opposed to what is not happening.

I pity all of us.

[NewJeffCT]

8. how should he frame it?

If it is so easy, how do you propose Gov. Vilsack should have framed his message? I agree with you that he should have done it, but I'm not always good with the word play.

[Donna Zen]

13. Framing

"Unfortunately, the blessing of abundant food is not shared by all Americans," Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said. "A recent report from our Department of Agriculture documented an increase in hunger in America, particularly among our children."
........
"With these thoughts and prayers, we should rededicate ourselves to ensuring that all who've served our country receive the health and income benefits they have earned by their service."

redo=====>


America sends out our thanks today for our many blessings and with wisdom and charity we will heed warning of the Dept. of Agriculture's study which documents hunger among our children. For we are a nation whose character nurtures the ideal of the "common good" and whose hearts encompass the dictates of care of the the "least of us." From those who have much; much is expected. May we renew our commitment to our children, our nation, and our dream of an every better America.

[auburngrad82]

17. There's a Frame The Debate Group in DU Groups

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=252

We discuss just this kind of thing.

America has had a tradition of helping the less fortunate since the beginning of our country. That's what Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, consumer protection laws and environmental programs do. They help people. Over the last 4 years the conservatives have attempted to destroy these programs through massive program cuts. They justify the program cuts because of the record deficit we, as Americans, now own. The deficit, of course, was brought about through tax cuts for the "country club" set that own 90% of the wealth in America.

From all appearances, conservatives have no desire to help others. They wnat only to help themselves. It is unimportant to conservatives that people are in need of help. As Ronald Reagan said, "Let them eat cheese." Give them a Thanksgiving basket and forget about them until next year. That's compassionate conservatism in practice.

In response to Bush and Vilsak, we as Democrats fall into the trap of framing everything in conservative terms. We should have ignored most of Bush's pandering and focused on the fact that there are millions of children in America without proper healthcare because the conservatives aren't compassionate enough to care about these kids. Millions of seniors now pay 17% more on their premiums because the conservatives aren't compassionate enough to care about these seniors. Millions of expectant mothers don't have proper neo-natal healthcare because the conservatives aren't compassionate enough to care about these women.

That's just my opinion.

[patdem]

3. Okay here is the beginning....

Vilsak...you Americans have been generous to a fault..the fault being that your fellow Americans are still starving..and they are starving in the richest country on earth!

While you (you being the other fella) are are contributing coats to the coatless and food to the foodless..there are still more of them then their are of you. So instead of contributing one coat..you should contribute 3 coats..and instead of contributing one turkey, you should contribute 3.

get the gist?? is that better????? :shrug:

[Rose Siding]

5. No

That's not better. Poverty is increasing and will continue to do so. Whatever it is that we're doing now isn't working. It's understandable that frustration with that invites sarcasm.

[blondeatlast]

4. Where to begin?

Once again, the Dems let the RadRight define the message. I know it's supposed to be a response to what Bush said, but why not make it an opportunity to go after his failures? I could have seen the call to privatization coming a mile away--why can't our people?

We need to stress that the vast majority of the nation are hard-working, ethical, moral people who DO pay their taxes and are honest and law-abiding. That opens up an entirely new dialog--tax cheats (as in the wealthy and the corporate greedheads) vs. the working class who pay theri dues (I include most of the so-called "middle-class" in this group) from which we all benefit.

The problem is that the big "D" leadership is completely OUT OF TOUCH with Democrats like me, and I would venture to say I represent a HUGE portion of the Dem party.

[blondeatlast]

6. SCHIST ON TOAST--I had to do a double take. "Least among us?"

I checked the Guardian article--that's what they quoted.

Think about that.

Revolting.

[Rose Siding]

9. Exactly. He pushes that kind of load and stilll

used other language that identified "us" (along with himself) as The Good, who care so much for the Least (the "bad"?).

It seems that the qualities could be flipped. Maybe identifying us as The Good; the ones who will overcome those who are less generous (the "bad")

That's lame but there must be a way to flip it so that our side is Good without beating up those who might agree as NOT being Good. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe that's just tortured marketing. We need SOMETHING like that.

[Qutzupalotl]

14. They're saddled with having to work in biblical references.

These are code words for the Bible readers to let them know they're doing the Master's work when they support Bush, oh yes it's true.

Of course it's the height of hypocrisy, since his policies do the exact opposite of helping. They've even rationalized "not helping".

I'm sure he acts this smug to send us a subtle F-U, so just ignore that part and think of Bush as simply "creating opportunities for service" for people like us.

[Meritaten1]

7. The Democratic response could have tied values to a meme

See:http://nathanpiazza.blogspot.com/2004/11/applied-memetics-for-disillusioned.html

Applying Mr. Piazza's meme of putting "America First" in economic terms in the Democratic response might encompass both the values of sharing resources (generosity) and the importance of remembering the sacrifices of others in a unified, positive statement.

[finecraft]

10. Written by the Master's hand:

I see a United States which can demonstrate that, under democratic methods of government, national wealth can be translated into a spreading volume of human comforts hitherto unknown, and the lowest standard of living can be raised far above the level of mere subsistence.

We of the Republic sensed the truth that democratic government has innate capacity to protect its people against disasters once considered inevitable, to solve problems once considered unsolvable. We would not admit that we could not find a way to master economic epidemics just as, after centuries of fatalistic suffering, we had found a way to master epidemics of disease. We refused to leave the problems of our common welfare to be solved by the winds of chance and the hurricanes of disaster.

But here is the challenge to our democracy: In this nation I see tens of millions of its citizens--a substantial part of its whole population--who at this very moment are denied the greater part of what the very lowest standards of today call the necessities of life.

I see millions of families trying to live on incomes so meager that the pall of family disaster hangs over them day by day.

I see millions whose daily lives in city and on farm continue under conditions labeled indecent by a so-called polite society half a century ago.

I see millions denied education, recreation, and the opportunity to better their lot and the lot of their children.

I see millions lacking the means to buy the products of farm and factory and by their poverty denying work and productiveness to many other millions.

I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.

It is not in despair that I paint you that picture. I paint it for you in hope--because the Nation, seeing and understanding the injustice in it, proposes to paint it out. We are determined to make every American citizen the subject of his country's interest and concern.The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

In every land there are always at work forces that drive men apart and forces that draw men together. In our personal ambitions we are individualists. But in our seeking for economic and political progress as a nation, we all go up, or else we all go down, as one people. "

Second Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt- 1937

All our leadership has to do is go read a history book, for crying out loud. Roosevelt stood up to corporations and blood-sucking industry and beat the crap out of them by making the ordinary citizens of our country see that "free market capitalism" and "trickle down economics" did not work in their best interest. When are they going to get a clue. Here's a hint for them: FDR FDR FDR FDR FDR FDR FDR FDR FDR FDR FDR FDR FDR

[Rose Siding]

11. No kidding

There it is:

It is not in despair that I paint you that picture. I paint it for you in hope--because the Nation, seeing and understanding the injustice in it, proposes to paint it out. We are determined to make every American citizen the subject of his country's interest and concern.The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

[sandnsea]

12. "abundant food"

First mistake. Nobody has a right to "abundant" food. Entire remarks dismissed as whining because the lazy on food stamps already have more food than any other poor people in the world.

Second mistake. Quoting a government report because we all know Democrats never tell the truth about what those reports say. /sarcasm

Finally, Vilsack can't miss a chance to bash Bush and say our troops aren't getting what they need when we all know Bush has raised their benefits more than any Democrat would. (Again, sarcasm)

And like you say, Bush not only doesn't call on Americans to volunteer at all. He gives the entire country permission to pat themselves on the back for charity most don't even participate in. What did I read the other day, some Marx philosphy, false conscience or something like that.

``Throughout the holiday season, schools, churches, synagogues and other generous organizations gather food and clothing for their neighbors in need. Many young people give part of their holiday to volunteer at homeless shelters or food pantries."

We really do have to do a better job. Maybe we can start with the idea that not every address has to have a carefully researched political message in it. Maybe something just uplifting and from the heart for a change.

[Qutzupalotl]

15. This is the advantage of the bully pulpit.

He can shamelessly lull the population to sleep with beautiful images of their own goodness. Our side does what it can, to point out that there is more to do, but it would be well to take a somewhat conciliatory tone, or at least avoid attacking on a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Folks who are praying don't want a downer. We can point out Bush's many deficiencies at Earth Day, Labor Day and Veteran's Day.

Which is not to say we can't mention those in need; Bush was affirming that they are being fed, and this feeds in to the national consciousness as optimism. It's quite powerful, when done on a large scale like this. (Funny how the right accuses us of using "feel-good" philosophies, when this is transparently what they're doing; but it works.)

We do want people to come away associating "Democrat" with "improvement", so for every problem we bring up we have to immediately follow with our proposed solution.

Our real advantage will come later, when Bush has screwed things up even further. He broke it, he owns it. Next big election, I think the Republicans are history.

[faithnotgreed]

16. exactly so - bush says just go on about your lives because so many

in our great nation give and arent we all so wonderful. he can set aside one or two days a yr to point out that volunteering is important and giving of ourselves works wonders. he doesnt talk about the truth of what is going on, and what needs are very much not being met or even acknowledged.

then someone else points out that no, were not doing what we can, there is great injustice and unecessary hunger etc going on even in the wealthiest nation. we should all be concerned about this.

ive seen for a long time that people dont want to hear the truth, they dont want problems (nationally or personally) pointed out, or changes asked of their comfortable life. that doesnt mean everyone is comfortable as in "wealthy". many in all parts of society are content to stay in pain or stay in bad relationships or exist in their lives even when underneath they are unhappy or depressed and wish things could be different.
and many, many no longer feel they have a voice or what they say matters anyway.

people dont want to make the hard changes, no matter the topic. look at long time smokers with lung cancer, or alcoholics/addicts who continue even when they lose everything. were a nation full of pain for so many reasons and no one wants to hear that they need to face up to whats right or what is true,,,, because that means changing and communicating and working to understand.

of course this is a generalization and its not so cut and dry but it is usually the case and quite indicative of a society that wants ease and happiness, not pain and reality (unless its packaged on tv, and then theyre glad thats not their life and can walk away from the set after an hour)

best wishes everyone. im glad we have each other