Metaphor contest

[lwcon]

Perhaps the biggest stumbling block to the Dems in upcoming elections is the GOP mastery of symbolism and issue framing.

They've convinced much of the public, and all of the media, of the following:

• Flag=GOP


• Moral values=GOP


• Old-fashioned values=GOP


• Faith=GOP


• Jesus=GOP


• Patriotism=GOP


• Fiscal prudence=GOP


• Strong defense=GOP


• Supporting our troops=GOP

The fact that their track record -- especially now that they control every part of the government -- so outrageously contradicts these equations is amazingly lost on a frightening portion of our electorate.

So, I think it's essential that we find the right metaphor that says not to judge the GOP book by its cover -- a nice crisp way to say "don't be fooled by these wolves in Betsy Ross's clothing."


I'm offering a huge bounty for this: the winning entry (assuming we get a bell-ringer) will be posted, with credit to you as you see fit, on my hopelessly obscure blog. Alternatively, I'll impersonate Carl Kassel on your answering machine.

Thanks!
___

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[C_U_L8R]

1. They DON'T own ANY of those values

In fact they've proven over and over that indeed republicans are FAILURES on ALL FRONTS.

Democrats do a better job representing these values,,, AND also do a lot more to make them REAL.
Additionally you can add TRUTH, HONESTY and FIGHTING FOR THE LITTLE GUY as key democratic values.

The republicans are very vulnerable right now.. because of their lies and mismanagement.
NOW it's time to take away all their toys... and stand up for GOOD

[Betsy Ross]

2. I resemble that remark.

So, I think it's essential that we find the right metaphor that says not to judge the GOP book by its cover -- a nice crisp way to say "don't be fooled by these wolves in Betsy Ross's clothing."

[lwcon]

3. Check your closet

Is anything missing?

[BeFree]

4. Big problems

* Flag=GOP
While We Lefties demand the freedom to burn one, or two

* Moral values=GOP
While We Lefties want gays to marry, and free sex for all.

* Old-fashioned values=GOP
WWL are progressively striving for better

* Faith=GOP
WWL want god removed from our dollars and our public places

* Jesus=GOP
WL have got 'em here, if we would just have faith in Jesus.

* Patriotism=GOP
WWL claim the USA is FUBAR

* Fiscal prudence=GOP
Again, WL have them here, but we have demanded more goverment in the past.

* Strong defense=GOP
WWL want a smaller, much smaller defense budget

* Supporting our troops=GOP
There are not many lefties who are too gung-ho miltary types, eh?


I am an American. We are all Americans. Let us not divide our strength, but let us Unite under the idea that our government can not be trusted.

[lwcon]

5. What do you have against Carl Kassel ?

[BeFree]

7. Who is he?

And if he's for the same America I am, I have nothing against him. But the truth is the truth.

[lwcon]

8. The truth is...

* Flag=GOP
While We Lefties demand the freedom to burn one, or two
I can't recall that being a hot issue with too many lefties. But ultimately, we care more about what the flag symbolizes -- the people and freedoms it represents -- than the cloth itself


* Moral values=GOP
While We Lefties want gays to marry, and free sex for all.
Again, this isn't a platform for too many leading Democrats. I wish it were -- are there a more important values than tolerance, freedom of expression, and love?


* Old-fashioned values=GOP
WWL are progressively striving for better
So were our nation's founders. That's how we honor them, by keeping their vision *alive*.

* Faith=GOP
WWL want god removed from our dollars and our public places
Unless you've been sucking on the Freep pipe, I don't know where you find the groundswell of enthusiasm among Dem politicos for this. We're for the keeping the government out of religion and vice versa, a tradition that has allowed religious freedom to flouris in this country.

* Jesus=GOP
WL have got 'em here, if we would just have faith in Jesus.
Blessed are the peacemakers.

* Patriotism=GOP
WWL claim the USA is FUBAR
Our commitment to freedom of speech and checks and balances is what keep this country a place *to be proud of*


* Fiscal prudence=GOP
Again, WL have them here, but we have demanded more goverment in the past.
Record surplus vs. record deficit. Case closed.


* Strong defense=GOP
WWL want a smaller, much smaller defense budget
We'd know when to keep our powder dry, instead of over-extending our troops.

* Supporting our troops=GOP
There are not many lefties who are too gung-ho miltary types, eh?
Look at who's running for Congress (and who ran for President last time). They're full of chicken-hawks, and we've got the Kerrys Murthas, and (sadly on the sidelines) the Clelands.

Sorry, but from this point out, I'm not wasting any more time dealing with Freeper nonsense on this board. We've got a lot of real work to do, to help get this country back on track.

__


Hey, the liberal light is always on at the Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy. Please stop by and say "hi!"

[BeFree]

9. Freeper nonsense?

I try to educate you and you turn off your mind and call it freeper nonsense?

Every claim I made about what WE LEFTIES have stood for is quite evident on this board. We are not in the mainstream, thank Gawd, but it is foolish to deny the truth.

Its just that your - or whatshisname's - words are lacking the full story.

[lwcon]

10. No dis to you intended...

nor to NPR game-show announcer Carl Kassel, who has absolutely nothing to do with this.

It's just that your list strikes me as the kind of red-herring arguments we hear all the time from the Freepers.

Presumably that's your point, but what I'm hoping we can focus on here is not getting on caught up in the withering defending-the-straw-man game, but rather on finding new ways of framing the debate.

Are you saying that the battle is lost on the brands of god, mother, and country -- that the GOP just has us owned on that, or do you think it's possible that we can attack their record on the symbolic goods they've falsely claimed as their own?
___

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[BeFree]

11. Our convictions...

....and our battle, is not to be won using their ideas and words. It can only be won using our ideas.

To be clear, I am in agreement with most all of the "WE Lefties" desires that I posted.

Its about freedom - freedom from religion, from big brother government, wasteful defense spending and war.

That what We want. Using their words to describe who we are, is an error.

Tell me, what YOU want. Tell me why you think We Lefties should run the government.

[lwcon]

12. Let's make a distinction between framing and buzzwords

Framing is the more open-ended opportunity to, as you say, have the debate using our terms and concepts. The Democrats have sucked at this, at least since Clinton left office, and the Republicans are masters at it: "Pro-Life," "Death-Tax," "Tax Relief," "The War on Terror" (which somehow gets to include Iraq), etc. But it's within our reach to come up with ways to look at things that inspire Americans, much as Clinton did after the Bush I doldrums set in.

Buzzwords are harder. The words and phrases I listed are political gold. But are they gold we can own? In the mouth of the right candidate, I think yes, but it's not going to be easy. We need someone who can make the point that the Bible says "the meek shall inherit the earth," not "render everything unto Caesar." The latter isn't "faith," it's corruption. Someone who can remind people that "patriotism" doesn't equal war, and that recklessly sending our young men and women to kill and die can be called many things, but "supporting our troops" isn't one of them.
___

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[BeFree]

13. Another distinction

We Lefties are not in power. Never have been. We have power, but it usually becomes evident later on as others progress to our level. By then, tho, we lefties have progressed even further - way past the mainstream. We always are steps ahead.

Now, if you are asking if we can turn the minds of the masses away from their deeply held beliefs, I'd say no. But it is always worth the effort to lay out the truth, and that is our forte. Sure as hell isn't the pukes, eh?

Here's my framing: The Elections Were Stolen.

Actually I'm probably more left than you, it seems. I think John Kerry was elected president. And I know Al Gore WAS elected.

Those are two of my deeply held beliefs. And all the word-smithing in the world will not change the fact that never again will a lefty get elected until we've conquered the stealing of elections.

Now, if you can show me a body of evidence that shows it was not stolen, I'll listen, if you will listen to me as I lay out how it was, indeed, stolen. Believe me, my body of evidence will swamp yours.

In closing, allow me to say that your attempt to label my words as freeperisms really disgusts me. I have been here for 5 years and have fought many a freeper, and attended a few funerals, too. I will remember you, lwcon, unfondly.

[lwcon]

14. Apologies

Hey BeFree,

I'm sorry about the Freeper characterization. I interpreted your post as a devil's advocate position. Obviously, I didn't understand where you were coming from. In any case, I did *not* intend to suggest that I thought you *were* a Freeper.

I'm a bit frazzled from a tour (which I've described in a couple of threads here) of so-called open political forums, where I was beseiged by actual Freeper-types, and it was bad judgment on my part to paint you at all with that brush.

After that exchange, though, it appeared that we were sharing some constructive ideas here. I think you've made some great points, so I'm disappointed to hear you speak of funerals and unfond rememberances.

__


Hey, the liberal light is always on at the Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy. Please stop by and say "hi!"

[BeFree]

15. Yes, well

We've work to do, eh?

As to the mentioned funerals.... they were funerals of the freepers tombstoned, so no sweat.

Ya know, I am kinda used to being misunderstood. Its one reason why I fight to keep my mind open all the time, so that constructive discussions may continue. Please do continue. We may yet make some progress.

[lwcon]

16. Another dichotomy

It would seem that there are two broad themes for change:

* The other guys (and/or their programs) are bad
* What we're offering is good

The former dwells on the negative. That's problematic, because people instinctively recoil from the negative -- if there's the slightest chance that what needs to be changed is them. I've been flogging this theme over here: http://vastleft.blogspot.com/2006/03/how-to-win-elections-and-influence.html

I love the idea of paraphrasing John Kerry (over photos depicting lost US troops and Iraqi civilians), and asking Bush voters : "How do you tell yourself that you made someone die for a mistake?" But that's just a fantasy. We don't live in a world where people would do anything but eat you alive if you pointed out their failure as voters.

This is much more an issue during times of great division. If you aren't with Dubya, yer agin' him. GHWB swing voters, in contrast, didn't feel that switching to Bill Clinton was a huge repudiation of their work as voters. They just liked the new guy better.


So, assuming you can phrase the message so that voters don't take it personally, there are several juicy temptations for going negative:
* Negative campaigning has been quite successful in recent years
* There is so much dirt on these guys, it's tantalizing to try to shine a light on it
* Speaking for myself here, Bush bashing is an outlet. I have no mouth, but I must scream. And the jury's still out on whether the controlled-hostility approach of Gore (at least as of 2000) and Kerry was helpful or harmful to them. Would they have done better to have been less hostile, or moreso?
* As insurance against dirty tricks, laying out their dirty campaign tactics early on may be a valuable innoculation. That way when the next Swift Boat shit is trumped up, voters will have a "here they go again" context for it
* The media whitewashes the records of the Rethugs, voting fraud, etc. If they don't hear the scoop from our guys, where will they hear it?


The latter, if done well, offers hope. The vision thing. Sunny side up.

But if done badly, it can be smarmy and weak. I like John Edwards, in fact I voted for him in the primary. But I thought he got smoked by Cheney in the debate (though I know a lot of DUers called it differently). He seemed caught in a no-man's land -- his positive stuff sounded nice but insubstantial next to Mr. Gravitas, and his negative moves seemed rabbity.

The message is one thing, but also tremendously important is the messenger. Maybe I'm wrong, and "Morning in America" and "Bridge to the 21st Century" could have been taken off the rack, but they seemed to fit those candidates especially well.

So, without knowing who that messenger will be, how far can we go in working up the right positive message? Of course, for the '06 cycle, there will be many messengers, but it would help if someone who is the, say, Dean (or Gore) of the party can take the lead in setting the tone.

___

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[Joe Fields]

6. No metaphor, just a slogan....

for dems running against republican incumbents up for re-election:

"You can run, but you can't hide!"

I'll work on some metaphors.