The New York Times had a fascinating article:
A Psychologist Helps Repackage Democrats’ Message
Democrats up and down the ballot have been trying to reverse the Republican rhetorical dominance that made “liberal” an unsavory label, and many have found help in a slender document percolating through their party’s hierarchy.
It is called the “Message Handbook for Progressives From Left to Center,” and, along with a companion piece on health care, it was created by Drew Westen, a psychology professor at Emory University here who was virtually unknown in political circles before this election cycle. Several Democratic consultants say it is the first systematic, data-driven effort to mold the language of the left to fit the sensibilities of the center.
I tracked down a copy and here are a few excerpts. I encourage those interested to buy his book “The Political Brain.”
Role of Government Messages
Conservative Message: Big government is the problem, not the solution. We need limited government,
not the politics of tax and spend. The government’s job is to provide for our national security, protect our
borders, keep our streets free from criminals, and provide basic services. We should cut taxes so
Americans can keep more of their hard earned money and keep it out of the hands of politicians in
Washington, who think they know how to spend it better than the American people do. And we don’t
need government to impose burdensome regulations and red tape on businesses that just hamper our
economy and our ability to create jobs. The best government is a small government, which gets out of
the way of the free market and lets it create prosperity and jobs.A Progressive Message: It’s time politicians stopped running for or against government and started
running it well. We’ve had a failure of leadership in Washington, and it’s time for a change. True leaders
work for the people who elected them, not the special interests who paid for their campaigns. True
leaders don’t give themselves health care plans the rest of us can’t afford and vote themselves pay raises
while the rest of our wages aren’t keeping pace with the price of gas, groceries, and prescription drugs.
True leaders don’t sit idly by as our country becomes increasingly dependent on foreign oil and Chinese
products. A government is only as good as the people who run it, and we need leaders with the values
and the courage to do what it takes to make government work again for the people it’s supposed to serve.Abortion Messages
Conservative Message: I believe in a culture of life. I believe that life begins at conception, and we
have a moral obligation to protect it as God’s creation. We need to restore legal protection to innocent
human life and stop activist judges who think they can change morality with the bang of a gavel. This is
about the sanctity of life, about whether we preserve and promote a culture that values innocent life, or a
careless and reckless culture in which anything goes—where abortion is a commonplace method of birth
control, and we allow the murder of the innocent simply because their parents don’t want to take
responsibility for the choices they make.A Progressive Message: With one out of every five pregnancies ending in abortion, we should do
everything we can to reduce unwanted pregnancies, because abortion shouldn’t be a form of birth control.
But government has no business intruding on personal freedom, and this is one of the most personal
decisions a woman or couple can make. The best way to reduce the number of abortions is to reduce
the need for abortions. That means educating our children about birth control and responsible sex and
making family planning available to people who aren’t ready to start a family. And it means doing
everything we can for teenagers who need guidance to get themselves a job or a college education
instead of getting pregnant before they have the resources and responsibility to be good parents.Gun Messages
Conservative Message: The Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms, which the founding fathers
understood as the cornerstone of individual liberty and the final guard against government tyranny.
America has always had a deep tradition of gun-ownership, going back to the revolution and the frontier,
and throughout the generations the lessons of hunting and sportsmanship have been passed down from
father to son. Those who advocate for gun control don’t understand those traditions, and they don’t
understand that police can’t be everywhere but criminals can, including at our own doors. Criminals
aren’t going to obey gun laws, so law-abiding citizens need the right to protect their homes and their
families. Any infringement on gun rights is an infringement on our freedomA Progressive Message: My view on guns reflects one simple principle: that our gun laws should
guarantee the rights and freedoms of all law-abiding Americans. That’s why I stand with the majority who
believe in the right of law-abiding citizens to own guns to hunt and protect their families. And that’s why I
also stand with the majority who don’t believe that right extends to felons, terrorists, and gang members.
We need to roll up our sleeves and deal with the gun violence that plagues our schools and streets in a
way that reflects the traditions, values, and common sense of the American people. If you’re a law-abiding
citizen, you should be able to buy a gun. But we need to start enforcing the laws on the books,
make background checks faster and more accurate, make sure we can track down a gun’s serial number
from the cartridges left at a crime scene, and close the loophole that lets criminals and terrorists buy guns
at gun shows without a background check.
Born 1950, Married, Living in Austin Texas, Semi
Retired Small Business owner and investor. My political interest
evolved out of his business experience that the best decisions come out of an objective gathering of information and a pragmatic consideration of costs and benefits. I am interested in promoting Centrist candidates and Policies. My posts are mostly about people and policies that I believe are part of the solution rather the problem.