Everybody wants the moderate voter. Without the huge mass of the middle, nobody can win elections. But Democrats and Republicans have been appealing to these voters in different ways and only one side is working well. Here's how to tip it back.
Since 11/2 there's been a lot of talk about how well the Republicans do "framing" but the general impression one gets from these discussions is that a "frame" is a magical word or phrase that instantly creates a voter that agrees with you. That's not how this works.
A picture frame delineates the edges of a picture. An issue frame delineates the edges of the issue. And by showing where the edges are, you can locate the center. And the corollary of that is that by shifting the frame, you redefine the center. This is the power of framing.
Let's take gay marriage as an example. The right edge of this frame is "gay marriage is against God and/or hurts children." The center, as defined by the Republicans, is "let the states decide". With that one edge and the center anyone who thinks gays should have civil rights is, at best, at the far left edge of the frame and at worst totally out of the debate.
This is a center that works in favor of the right. Why? Because, besides locating the left side as the extreme one, the left edge view is that government should not be preventing citizens who love each other from marrying, but the center view is that it's OK if local government does it.
A centrist Democrat that expounds the "let states decide" view is trying to chase the center that Republicans have framed for them. That's a losing strategy. Who wants to vote for a Democrat following Republican principles if you can just vote for a Republican doing the same?
The alternative is to create a new center and make the Republicans chase it. Example? How about this line for moderate-seeking Democrats: "I don't think the government should be involved in personal relationship decisions." How does this frame work?
Now the left edge is pro-gay. The center is "I may not agree with homosexuality but I will defend their right to be free of government interference" and the previous right edge position is now seen as extremist. The newly created center position is one that moderate Republicans would be very happy to jump on. Most Americans don't give a crap what their neighbors do in bed and moderate Republicans in particular are keen to get government off their backs. The religious right of course won't be happy, but that's exactly the point. By moving the center, you put the onus on Republicans to try to find a way to appease both the far right and the center. Make them chase the center we define, not vice versa.
Other items:
- This framing was taken from the Schiavo case. It works in a wide variety of other issues. For instance, abortion: Moderates should forget about "right to choose", instead the center of the frame is "the government should not be making your medical decisions" (this frame is out there but rarely used, in my experience). Another way to phrase the gay marriage recentering for the non-extreme religious is "the government should not be regulating a relationship that is between your partner and your God".
- Recentering is part and parcel of Armando's 1860 strategy, as I understand it. From what I've read, his idea is that Democrats need to stop moving towards the center and start leading the charge towards the left. That's good advice, but it only moves the left edge of the frame farther from the center. The center must also be redefined to move the great mass of America to the left. His 1860 message is to the progressive leaders on the left. My message is to everyone one else. Don't take up far left positions and exclude yourselves from the debate--create new center positions that are favorable to the left and split the right.