Will Dems Win or Lose in 2008?
Fri May 16, 2008 at 11:38:36 AM PDT
In david mizener’s excellent post he pointed to the defensive posture of the response by Democratic party leaders after Bush’s recent attack on Obama. We need many more posts like this to unlearn the defensiveness and fear decades of conservative attacks have ingrained in progressives in general and Democrats in particular. As a result of this defensiveness and even fearfulness, the Democratic reputation is not one of being FOR anything, only AGAINST things. If Obama and other Dem leaders are always on the defensive—not matter how "rapid" the response—citing etiquette or unfairness or dirty tactics, or simply issuing denials, John McCain will win. He will.
Now there are some good signs. Campaign for America’s Future tends to have a good sense of how to attack conservatives. They highlighted two articles with good headlines today
Bush's Global Failure Tour
President Bush's Political Treason
The body of these pieces, particularly the second, were still not as forceful as I would have liked, but they’re a fair start.
The best example I have yet seen of a strong progressive attack was Moveon.org’s General Betray-Us ad. It was hailed by Libertarian blogger Justin Raimondo (of Antiwar.com) as an example of moveon.org finally growing a pair. The ad caused a huge stink. It was a victory for us. George Lakoff explains why (his think tank Rockridge Institute is an invaluable resource even though they have recently shut their doors.)
MoveOn's "General Betray Us?" ad has raised vital questions that need a thorough and open discussion. The ad worked brilliantly to reveal, via its framing, an essential but previously hidden truth: the Bush Administration and its active supporters have betrayed the trust of the troops and the American people.
MoveOn hit a nerve. In the face of truth, the right-wing has been forced to change the subject -- away from the administration's betrayal of trust and the escalating tragedy of the occupation to of all things, an ad! To take the focus off maiming and death and the breaking of our military, they talk about etiquette. The truth has reduced them to whining: MoveOn was impolite. Rather than face the truth, they use character assassination against an organization whose three million members stand for the highest patriotic principles of this country, the first of which is a commitment to truth.
New York Times columnist Frank Rich, right about so many things, got it wrong when he criticized the ad in his Sunday column.
He overlooks the fact that the "distraction" he worries about has led the supporters of the Iraq occupation to endlessly evoke the Betrayal of Trust frame, identifying themselves with the Betrayer of Trust in that frame. The betrayers themselves took MoveOn's bait.
Thanks to their making it a national issue, we can now proceed to discuss their Betrayal of Trust on the national stage they have conveniently provided. The importance of this frame is discussed in "Betrayal of Trust: Beyond Lying" — Chapter 6 of Don't Think of an Elephant
Lakoff warns: Don’t fall into the "politeness" trap. Don't whine.
The Dem strategy must be factual and must draw clear distinctions between our values and conservative values (or lack thereof) and McCain’s utterly compromised values. But above all Democrats must be BOLD, and risk being rude. Grab headlines, take the spotlight, control the debate and hurl the GOP back on their heels. Yes, Republicans might be bloodied up a bit in polls and approval ratings, but we must deliver the knock-out blows ourselves. Take the fight to the enemy. This election won’t win itself.
Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength. Sun Tzu
Permalink | 14 comments