Frame the DebateTake Our Country Back! - Training

How we win

• Unite and reclaim• Learn to “frame”• Know your values• Use language and

framing that works for your position

• Activate liberals in all religions

• Understand “Strict Father” politics

• Activate “Nurturant” model

• Understand why President Bush is a weak president

Framing is

• More than finding ‘better’ words• Reflects your values and your beliefs• Connects values to issues in ways that

have self-contained arguments built in

Framing is not

• Messaging• It is a new way of thinking about all the

issues

Telling the Truth

• Tell it forcefully and straightforwardly• Tell it with moral conviction• Use the common language of our

values

Are these your (political) values?

• Empathy / Compassion

• Responsibility• Strength• Fairness• Fulfillment• Trust• Cooperation

• Protection• Opportunity• Freedom• Prosperity• Community• Honesty• Open

Communications• Service

Truth will not set you free

• Once a frame is set• People do not listen to contradictory facts

Who’s Agenda?

• Frame your own issues proactively• Don’t just respond to the

conservatives’ frames

Avoid These Words or phrases

• Tax relief • War on terror • Abortion / partial-

birth abortion

• Clear Skies / Healthy Forests Act

• Death tax• Gay marriage

Employ These Words or phrases

• Investment provides dividends• Republican policies have made us WEAK• Ending a pregnancy• Dirty Skies Initiative or Leave No Tree

Standing Act (Rename Orwellian terms)• Marriage is the realization of love in a

lifetime commitment• The Birth Tax• Corporations are deserting America

Reframing

• They say• We need tax relief• We need a strong

president to protect us

• Same sex marriage will undermine family life

• Trial lawyer. Frivolous lawsuits

• You say• Taxes are

investments• We have a week

president who didn’t protect us

• Marriage is the realization of love in a lifetime commitment

• Public protection attorney

Patience

• Don’t expect to convert anyone right away

Common Sense?

• Reframing is a skill• It takes time to develop

First step

• Think about values

The task

• Think about how to frame an issue using your value• For example, if the issue if poverty and

your value is protection• Every family deserves a safe and healthy place

to live

Remember

• Working with issues• NOT about the facts of the issue

• It’s about the values that tell us the issue matters to us

Resources

• www.rockridgeinstitute.org• www.pdamerica.org/dfa• the DVD, How Democrats and Progressives

Can Win: Solutions from George Lakoff. • George Lakoff’s best-seller, Don’t Think of an

Elephant!