I teach speech at the community college level, and every semester I hand out the text of the great “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King. I have my students do a number of things with the speech, but primarily I have them circle key phrases. And one thing is obvious. Dr. King repeated key phrases over and over again. "I have a dream; one day; now is the time; let freedom ring." And many more. The list is long. And the repetition is powerful, persuasive, all-encompassing. (The full text of the speech is available at Americanrhetoriccom).
For too long, we have focused on this particular outrage or that particular claim from the right. Limbaugh, or Beck, or Gingrich says this offensive/untrue/outrageous thing and we get all worked up and demand a retraction or an apology or a boycott or a termination. We have argued for better framing (which I agree with – I deeply respect the work of George Lakoff).
But the problem is not the specific -- it is the accumulative effect of one single message, repeated over and over and over again. Here is that message: "The Democrats, the progressives, Obama, (Gore, Kerry, Clinton) are bad for America.”
Take Sean Hannity during the last election. He called his daily program the “Stop Hillary Express,” and when Obama won the nomination, he simply changed “titles” for his program. But the message was pounded in, day after day – “They are bad for America.”
Why do Obama's poll numbers go down? Because all day, every day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, there is a steady drumbeat of sound bites to raise and refresh and reinforce the issue in repetitive fashion – “They are wrong." Not "we are right," but "they are wrong." The right cares little (not at all!) for the truthfulness of their claims, spends little time holding on to a theme that does not stick -- they just go on to the next attempt. Look at the polls: the many who believe that Obama was not born in America, the many who believe that death panels are real – it all has to do with the drumbeat of the charge, over and over and over again. “Today, they are wrong for this reason. Tomorrow, they will be wrong for that reason. But wrong they are, and we must all reject and defeat them." This is the message that they repeat over and over again.
And there is no progressive equivalent. The words on Daily Kos, and all through the progressive blogosphere, are not newsworthy in the sound bite form and style. There is no drumbeat of repetition that gets repeated in enough places to drive home the message that "the other they -- the Republicans, the right wing" are wrong. And because they provide so many sound outlets (right wing radio; Fox news) it is their sound bites making the news, frequently setting the agenda for newscasts on most other outlets. Even when what they say is outrageous, it reinforces their message. And we seem to always be reacting, not acting.
I live in Dallas. Other than NPR, (which, yes, is quite disappointing at times) there is no radio station delivering "our side." So -- all day, every day, there are multiple stations with one message: "They (the Democrats/Obama/the progressives) are wrong." The same is true in city after city. Tune in any time, on any of these stations, and ignore the specifics. Just listen to the drumbeat. The big picture narrative, all day, every day, is “They are wrong.” Better framing, the right message, truth and facts on our side – this is all inadequate in the face of such a relentless drumbeat of repetition labeling us all as always wrong.
I do not know the solution. But I do believe that this is the problem. And we need to recognize it, acknowledge it, and figure out some solution.