Several diarists (Jeffrey Feldman's
excellent George Lakoff series and Newsie8200's
Put up or Shut up On Framing among many others) are beginning to hammer it home that if we want to truly go toe to toe with the GOP we're going to have to work hard at implementing our own side of the debate consistently via frames....
After the fold I've got a bunch of framing elements that have been pulled together from a variety of sources including the Kos diaries, other blogs, the Rockridge Institute and also Rapid Response Network.
Check them out and please use them. Also, add your own thoughts on frames we should all be considering.
Remember, this is a loose collection, barely organized (haven't had time yet). And sorry about the caps -- this is stored on a text-based doc with no layout options.
TOP-LEVEL DEMOCRATIC CORE BELIEFS (all Dem framing falls into one of these categories)
These are adapted from daunte's diary What the DNC must do. Others have similar matrices but I think daunte's work fits well and is highly adaptable (I haven't thought of an issue yet that doesn't fit into one or more categories found here).
"Pragmatic Progressive"...
"Common Sense Liberal"...
Community/ National/ Global Security:
* PROTECTING FREEDOM
- STRATEGIC defense (or, SMART defense)
- PRINCIPLED leadership
- OPEN and ETHICAL governance
- INTEGRITY in Democracy (voting issues)
Economic Positioning:
* ECONOMIC PROGRESS
- Educational OPPORTUNITY
- DYNAMIC industry/ market (DIVERSE industry/ market)
- SUPPORT for the work force
- National INVESTMENT in our future
* MORAL ECONOMY
- DEFEND working Americans
- STRENGTHEN working families
- FAIR trade (FAIR markets) (antithesis: "Free Markets = Free-For-All Markets and we all know Anarchy isn't good.")
- EARNED OPPORTUNITY (those who work hard ought to be recognized for their contributions to society: Earned Care, Earned Assistance, etc.)
VALUES POSITIONING:
* GENERATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY (RESPONSIBILITIES TO OUR CHILDREN AND OUR ELDERS, )
- Fiscal RESPONSIBILITY (working within OUR MEANS)
- Leave/ Make the country/ world a BETTER place (includes: society, education, environment [incl. for hunters, anglers, hikers, adventurers], etc)
- FREEDOM for ALL
- PERSONAL and COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABILITY and RESPONSIBILITY
the ELEPHANT PARTY
conservative extremists
conservative fundamentalists
conservative zealots
Update
"The Ostrich Party" (always have their head in the sand)
Tom DeLay's "Leave No Convict Behind" incumbent protection plan
Country Club Republicans
the Corporate Republican Elite
Update [2004-11-22 12:17:1 by thesill]:
GOP allows "Bush's big donors" to write pollution policies (polluters, pharma, corporations, etc.)
NOT "polluters" are writing environmental policy (turn it around to call a spade a spade: the polluters here are GOP donors, the so-called environmental policy actually increases pollution)
(swap in GOP or Republican for 'conservative' if you want, but using 'conservative' constantly maintains consistency)
MEDIA
Right-Wing Corporate Media (RWCM)
Regurtitating right-wing talking points
the JUDICIARY (esp. SUPREME COURT)
agenda-driven fundamentalist judges (a bit longer than 'activist judges' which could just as easily be applied to conservative judges)
ECONOMY
(positive for Dems) Labor is the source of all wealth (old Labor slogan)
Capitalism with a Conscience (= to Moral Economy)
Moral Economy (direct from Lakoff/Rockridge)
Investing in America's Future (a polite way of saying "taxes", do not use "Tax Relief")
Deficit Dubya
GOP favors wealth over work (thank you John Edwards)
Red Ink Republicans
Bush's Birth Tax
Republicans are morally bankrupt
True American Welfare Reform (ending blue state subsidizing of red states -- let them kick out gays while we cut off our Federal taxes)
GOVERNMENT
Red State Welfare
(to counter "The Democratic Party is the Party of Big Gov't)
We The People means government that works with you, not against you.
or, The Democrats believe We The People means a government that works with you, not against you.
(This brings up frames of:
* American Community, History, and Patriotism ("We The People")
* Empathy and Comradery ("with you"). IMHO, the word "with" is stronger than "for" (if you are "with" someone you are together, if you are "for" someone there is a top-down, commander-follower connotation)
* and also sets up a negative for the GOP which is in power now ("against you")
All that is necessary in either case is to pound home how the many Bush-backed GOP cuts negatively affect citizens while the GOP's pork also drains resources that could be better used.)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/9/101837/110
HEALTH
Earned Health Care ("earned" is key)
WAR/NATIONAL SECURITY
Fight Against Extremism (not "War on Terror")
Bush's War (Iraq)
Republican chickenhawks
Republicans blaspheme the Bible. "Thou shalt not kill".
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/9/10519/0967/#7
Needless death of 1100+ US soldiers and 100,000+ Iraqi innocents is not moral. (Iraq)
Iraqi Innocents, including countless defenseless children (Iraqi citizens/"collateral damage")
SOCIAL ISSUES
The American Family
The American Community
Republicans are morally bankrupt
Warped Sense of Morals
Welfare to the Wealthy (regarding Bush's tax "cuts" which are more like "tax giveaways")
And, if you have children, tie these issues into how they will be affected as they grow up.
- "Adding $2 trillion to the national debt is no sort of relief for my kids who will grow up only to find they're paying for Bush's birth tax."
- "What sort of message does it send to our children that if you're straight there's one set of rules but if you're different then you get less rights."
- "What's next after we ban gay folks? Are kids with afros not going to be allowed into high school. It's a slippery slope that leads straight to segregation and lynchings."
Republicans are living off the sweat off your brow.
Republicans are giving your money to your bosses.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/9/10519/0967/#7
John Edward's stump speech was a brilliant attempt to dominate the election by creating a kitchen table frame that would help GOP voters identify with the Democrats. I loved Edward's speech. Rather then taking numbers, he painted a picture of a single mom sitting in her kitchen, worrying about the bills, thinking about her family. ...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/9/10519/0967
Obama used that platform to cast himself in the frame of a strong family. His candidacy was not about unemployment numbers, was not about deaths in Iraq, was not about tax breaks. It was about his values as a member of an American family. And it was in that frame of the family, that so many people see their own identity.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/9/10519/0967
NEVER USE (except in rare cases while talking about conservatives):
Subsidy
Handout
Assistance
Elite
Tax Relief
War on Terror