Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

March 30, 2005

It's the Message, Stupid!

A great piece by Joshua Green in the May issue of the Atlantic Monthly suggests "more Democrats appear to be coming around to the belief that -- election results be damned -- what they stand for may not be the problem after all." It's not new ideas they need, instead "a snazzy new sales pitch will revive their fortunes."

It's messaging, "the process of selecting words that impart to voters whatever sentiment the author is pushing," that will make the difference. "One famous example is the Republican effort to recast the 'estate tax' --with its implied application to landed aristocrats only -- as the much more menacing (and less discriminating!) 'death tax.'"

Similar ideas are expressed in the recent book Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate by George Lakoff. In fact, DNC Howard Dean recently vowed that he would "make George Lakoff the Democrats' Frank Luntz."
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Taegan D. Goddard is the creator of Political Wire, a political column updated around the clock with the most interesting news, buzz and commentary.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

This is a personal site and does not necessarily reflect the views of any company, political campaign or advocacy group.

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