That's right, I done did it. I created a diary with an inflammatory title, the content of which is the opposite of what it seems. The trap to which I refer though is a serious one that again and again Democrats, Liberals, and yes, even Kossacks fall into repeatedly: operating inside Right Wing framing and the widespread, harmful adoption of Republican messaging. Stop calling it 'Obamacare' (and his includes you, Mr President, first and foremost) and start calling it Affordable Care! This is messaging 101! Hello? Is there anybody out there?
(note, this blog formulated in the comments section of a well-crafted post by DarkSyde called "Obamacare Final Exam")
Every time I see Democrats, Kossacks and other politically aware Lefties such as myself referring to the new law as 'Obamacare' as opposed to 'Affordable Care' drives me crazy. It falls right into the other side's messaging campaign, messaging and talking points being something Republicans have been way better at for some time. It's easy to oppose Obamacare if you already hate Obama, it's practically a knee-jerk reaction. But if you're forced to ask yourself "hey, am I actually against affordable care?!" you have at least eliminated the knee jerk. This is dead simple, the logic inescapable, so why do Democrats, the President respectfully included, keep fucking it up?
Vote against 'The Patriot Act' or the 'Clear Skies Act' and you sound crazy to others unless they actually know what's in the bill. Most people are not as informed as the people on this site, little games like this actually work. Republicans know this and profit from it, to the detriment of the United States of America and I would argue the entire rest of the planet. This is a true but ugly part of political life and there's no reason Democrats need to continue being so shit-awful at it. Messaging, messaging, messaging.
Yes, you may be breathless at the thought of a great and positive law being put into place and it bearing a stamp forever of a Democratic president but I'm sorry, Precious, there's just no way that's going to happen. Not with today's message-smart GOP, today's message-blind Democrats and today's truly sorry excuse for journalism. Obama certainly got it right. When the Law is fully implemented, Republicans will no longer refer to it as Obamacare and likely neither will the mainstream media. Start planning for that particular heartbreak right now.
It will just be called Affordable Care and they will say it was, as Obama himself admits, crafted based on a lot of Republican ideas, they might even lionize Mitt 'the Shit' Romney and call it Romneycare. It's stupid and dishonest but it's also a staple these days of being a Republican; the sheer glee of lying outright, knowing as they no doubt do that journos like Chuck Todd and the historically abysmal David Gregory feel no responsibility towards shepherding the truth. And thus a case is made and so it goes. Agree to disagree, right? Right.
So, Democrats, liberals, progressives and yes, even Kossacks need to smarten up. Every DNC spokesman needs to get onboard. And the President, a man whose intellect continues to prove itself to me and the rest of the world outside the beltway every day, needs to lower himself into the mucky morass of American politics at least to the degree to which he is no longer operating within Republican frames and messaging like Obamacare.
@iSenseChange
p.s. Next week on Messaging 101: Stop calling it 'Raising the Debt Ceiling' and start referring to it as 'Defaulting on the Debt.'