This is a discussion about framing and how Democrats can do it better. It’s no secret that more often than not Democrats are terrible at framing, especially by comparison with Republicans. For an example of this (and certainly not the most egregious one) look at the framing Democrats and Republicans are using on the “American Jobs Act”. Keep in mind, that’s a name that a lot of Americans haven’t heard. What they’ve heard is “the infrastructure bill”, “Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure bill”, or “the Democrats’ infrastructure bill” among other variations. Certainly, very few of them are hearing it called “the jobs bill”, or “Joe Biden’s/the Democrats’ jobs plan”.
Now before I go further, let me stress a few things here. On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with Democrats talking about “infrastructure”. “Infrastructure” is a winning word. Infrastructure in America has been sorely neglected and most Americans agree and support funding it. As I’m going to try to explain though, Democrats have a way of blowing debates over issues we should be able to dominate on because we don’t frame the issues in a winning way. Further, this is not at all a criticism of Senator Gillibrand or any other Democrat making the framing mistake I’m discussing here. The above was just the example that popped up in my feed today. Nor does it mean that we shouldn’t be advocating for paid leave, child care, or care giving funding. Nor does it mean that we shouldn’t include those and funding for other important policies in the American Jobs Act. We certainly should. What I’m saying here is that we’re standing on the edge of Republicans leading us down another framing rabbit hole and Democrats look set to follow them as usual. But it’s not too late to avoid the mistake.
So here’s a summary of what Republicans are saying and will say in the future to try and undermine support for the American Jobs Act and how Democrats are mistakenly reinforcing their framing. Republicans are and will argue that “the infrastructure bill spends trillions of dollars on liberal programs that have nothing to do with infrastructure.” The funding for child care and care giving are examples they will gleefully cite, among others, IF they have to. More often than not though they won’t have to actually do so. They’ll say that line and then Democrats will do their work for them. Democrats counter just as Senator Gillibrand is doing above, arguing that child care and paid leave and care giving etc. are infrastructure. Whatever the policy merits of that (and I again stress we should support all these programs and include them in the American Jobs Act), what that does is attempt to negate the Republican framing with an almost direct rebuttal, and as the linguist and author of “Don’t Think of an Elephant” (you thought of an elephant, didn’t you?), George Lakoff, points out again and again in his work, “Negating a frame reinforces a frame.”
People think in large part in pictures and stories. Frames help us understand political issues via metaphor. It links an issue being discussed to a person’s value system and how they see the world. Without delving in deep into Lakoff’s work, suffice it to say that Republicans have gotten much better at framing and reinforcing their frames than Democrats have over the years. The frame they’re using here is that “Democrats spend money carelessly.” “Democrats favor wasteful spending on failed programs.” “Republicans are the responsible party.” “Democrats can’t be trusted with your money.” But “infrastructure” is also a frame. What do people see in their brains when they hear that word? For most people, it’s bridges, roads, power lines, air ports, and so on. Physical things made out of concrete, metal, and wiring. Is that all there is to infrastructure? No, of course not. Especially not in the 21st Century. But trying to get a large section of the voting public to change the frames in their heads regarding what infrastructure is will just be a waste of time at best, counterproductive at worse. Republicans tell these people our “infrastructure bill” wastes money on things that aren’t “infrastructure” and they start thinking about bridges and roads. We respond “child care is infrastructure” and there’s no frame for that in their brains. The Republican frame has now been reinforced and we did their work for them. They walk away saying “the Republicans are right; these Democrats are cramming a bunch of unrelated stuff into this bill and trying to tell me it’s infrastructure.”
But here’s the good news. There’s a better way to talk about this. (There always is.). Don’t talk about the American Jobs Act as “an infrastructure bill”. Don’t even say that phrase. Infrastructure funding is in it and that’s great, but don’t go down that rabbit hole of trying to defend everything in the bill as infrastructure. The American Jobs Act is just what its name says. It’s a jobs bill. Everything in it creates jobs and supports working Americans. Yes, we need to fix and modernize our infrastructure and doing so will create jobs right away and even more jobs on top of that in the future. Great! You know what else creates jobs? Funding for child care jobs. Funding for care giving jobs. Not only that, those things make sure that families with kids and sick or elderly relatives can get back into or stay in the work force. So does paid leave. Say it with me. Everything in the American Jobs Act is designed to create jobs and support working Americans. That’s our frame that every Democratic politician, activist, and even just rank and file Democrats talking with family and coworkers ought to be using.
Don’t play the Republicans’ game. Don’t reinforce their framing and messaging.
Talk...about...the jobs.