Strategic Messaging

Speaking of ValuesThree principles of effective political

communication

Drew Westen, Ph.D.May 2011

Speaking of values

An experiment

Ocean

Waves

Moon

Cheer

Fab

All

Tide

What networks are active at Fox?

Why networks matter

LIBERAL

Elite

Big government

Tax and Spend

Special interests

Sushi-eating Godless atheists

Volvo-driving

Latte-drinking

Ambivalence toward immigrants

Better life

Law breakers

Nation of immigrants

OpportunityGovernment

benefits

Don’t pay taxes

Don’t speak English

American Dream

Hard working

Immigrants

How networks work

Data based on focus groups conducted nationally by Westen Strategies and GQRR in 2008

Three principles

How were progressives so successful at losing for so long…

•…and how are we pulling it off again?• The conservative catechism• The conscience of a liberal progressive• Examples from health care• S-CHIP• Universal health care• A family doctor for every family• “The public option“

Strategic Messaging

Three principles of effective messaging

Three principles

Principle 1: Tell a coherent, memorable story

We are a story-telling species Shopping lists of facts, policies, and 12-point plans lack

Emotional resonance Memorability The moral of the story: values and principles Without a vision, the people will perish

What happens when you don’t tell a coherent story? You lose

Three principles

The Democrats want a government takeover of our health care system, because they believe government bureaucrats know better than you do what you need. They want to put a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor. They’ll set up boards of bureaucrats to make up rules for when you live and when you die, and they’ll decide which babies born premature or with birth defects are worth saving. Because there’s only so much money to go around, they’ll raise taxes on the middle class and cut Medicare benefits to seniors. And all of this talk of a “public option” just gets at their real motives: to drive out the private sector entirely, so we all have the public option, which means taking away our freedom to choose, because ultimately they don’t believe in the American ingenuity that has created the greatest medical care on earth. We all agree that we need reform and we’ll have reform, so that people with pre-existing conditions don’t have to worry about getting health care. But we don’t need socialized medicine to accomplish that.

A coherent story

The Republican message on health care, 2009

46 million people don’t have health care in this country. Hmmm….that’s no good—we need a story that appeals to the middle class. Okay, scratch that. Costs for the average person are rising out of control. So we need to cover 46 million more people while cutting costs at the same time. Oh, that’s a little hard to believe… OK, doctors should stop giving unnecessary tests, because we’ve all had the experience of having our doctor foist on us unnecessary tests—haven’t we? Hmm…. Try this: We should tax the really good plans that some working people get from their employers because…we don’t want working people to have really good plans? But we need a public option, because it’s essential to creating competition in the health insurance market. Okay, maybe not essential. Maybe a co-op. We shouldn’t really have a public option anyway because Congressional Republicans don’t like it, and we have to have a bipartisan solution, even though voters repudiated the Republicans in the last two elections, because true virtue lies in mixing failed ideologies with new ideas. And health care for all is a moral imperative, because I’m talking to an evangelical audience today, and our internal polling says they like that kind of thing.

A tale of incoherence

The White House message on health care, 2009

Talking points on some of the major issues

• Government: It’s time politicians stopped running for or against government and started running it well.

• The economy: It’s time America worked again for people who work for a living.• Jobs: I want to see the words, “Made in America” again.• The middle class: It’s time we started expanded opportunity and stopped shrinking

the middle class.• Taxes: The question isn’t who’s going to cut your taxes, it’s whose taxes they’re

going to cut.• Deficits: The best way to cut the deficit is to put 15 million Americans back to work. • Energy: We led every great technological revolution of the last century, and we’re

not handing this one over to China. • Health care: People who work for a living ought to be able to take their kids to the

doctor when they’re sick.• National security: We need a foreign policy that treats our allies with respect,

hostile nations with resolve, and terrorists without mercy. • Immigration reform: Obey our laws, learn our language, pay our taxes: Welcome

to America.

Three principles

Principle 2: If you don’t feel it, don’t use it

Human behavior is motivated by emotion If it’s emotionally inert, it’s politically inert Greatest hits of Democratic communication I: Dukakis on Kitty Greatest hits of Democratic communication II: Gore on Medic

are Jim Webb’s response to the State of the Union The point isn’t to “dumb down” our messages It’s to increase their emotional intelligence Positive and negative emotion are not opposites

Do you love your spouse or partner?

Three principles

Our values: What we stand for…

People who work for a living Working and middle class Americans The great American middle class Middle class values People who’ve lost their jobs through no fault of their own Rebuilding America Restoring the American Dream Small business as the engine of prosperity and jobs Good American jobs, wages, and benefits for a hard day’s work Investment in our future (our kids, our schools, our roads and bridges) Guaranteeing dignity in old age Strong families and communities Partnership with business Common sense regulation/rules of the road Effective government/effective leadership Opportunity for everyone willing to work hard and play by the rules

What they stand for…

Big banks and big bonusesThe people who played Russian Roulette with our futuresTax breaks for the richBig corporationsBig oilCompanies that outsource American jobsCEOs and their big bonusesLobbyistsDoing nothing and calling that “leadership”A global race to the bottom for American workersPutting special interests over the interests of the rest of usIf you’ve lost your job, your home, or your health care, that’s your problemAn America where the only jobs are stocking Chinese goods at WalmartIntoleranceExtremismIntrusive government

Principle 3: Know what networks you’re activating

A methodology for developing effective messages

Study the existing polls to understand the networks

Design messages and refine them in focus-groups if useful

Dial-test messages online using large samples, always testing against the language the opposition is actually using

Identify a range of messages for progressives with a range of values and constituents

Three principles

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0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63 66

TOTAL DEM IND REP

The language of the kitchen table

Instead of this… Try this…

The unemployed People who’ve lost their jobs

The uninsured People who used to have insurance

Universal health care People who work for a living ought to be able to take their kids to the doctor

The environment The air we breathe and the water we drink

Renewables Energy that will never run out, like the win and the sun

Retrofit Renovate, refit, replace

Carbon emissions Pollution that destroys our lungs and our atmosphere

The status quo Business as usual

My 10-point plan to… Three principles…

46.5 million Americans are…

Over 40 million Americans are…

Three principles

Are Georgians pro-life? (Westen Strategies and Lake Research Partners, October, 2007)

I’m not pro life, I’m not pro choice, I’m pro common sense. No one truly knows what’s in the mind of God, and the government shouldn’t be telling a man and a woman when they should and shouldn’t have kids based on somebody else’s interpretation of Scripture. But people shouldn’t be using abortion as birth control, and they shouldn’t be able to get late-term abortions except when the mother’s health or life is in danger.

The structure of an effective message

Three principles

Connect, using an aspirational, value-laden statement, a metaphor voters understand, or an acknowledgement of their ambivalence.

Raise concerns, describing the problem in a way that is concrete, visual, and evocative.

End with a hopeful solution, a return to the dominant metaphor, or a resolution to voters’ ambivalence.

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Speaking of immigration: Address ambivalence

Our interests and values

Our immigration laws ought to reflect both our interests and our values as Americans. A nation can't be secure if its borders aren't secure... But we need to treat this as a problem to be solved, not as an opportunity for politicians to score political points by preying on both our legitimate concerns and our prejudices. We are a nation of laws, but we're also a nation of immigrants... So let’s secure our borders, crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants, and require those who came here without our permission to pass background checks, learn our language, and pay our taxes… while they earn the chance to become taxpaying American citizens.

Voter Preference

5051

3129

Total Swing

Pro-Reform Conservative

Message Rating 1-100

62 17

0 20 40 60 80 100

% Rating 80-100%Rating 60-79

79

GOPs particularly liked this message, which they liked as much as the opposition message

Note: Bolded statements are strong as standalone statements. Italicized words and phrases are strong language that led the dials to shoot up, generally across the political spectrum.

Vote on the Role of Government

57 58

3933

Total Independents

Democratic candidate Republican candidate

Message Rating, 0 - 10

56 72

0 20 40 60 80 100

% Rating 8-10 % Rating 6-10

\

It's time politicians stopped running for or against government and started running it well. We need leaders who understand the value of business, because business is the engine of our prosperity and jobs. But we also need leaders who understand what happens when you let big business call all the shots. People who work full time shouldn't be struggling to put food on the table or gas in their tanks. People who retire with a pension and benefits shouldn't find themselves with a handful of empty promises. The most powerful nation on earth shouldn't be held hostage to Middle Eastern tyrants because we're dependent on their oil. True leaders don't sit back and hope things work out as big businesses move American jobs to China or triple the price of gas. Leadership means knowing when to step back and when to step up to make sure the system works for people who work for a living.

Speaking of government

Running it well

Speaking of economicsMade in America

I want to see the words "Made in America" again. Becoming the world's leader again in manufacturing and agriculture isn't just essential to our economic security. It's essential to our national security. Imagine if we'd had to fight World War II without manufacturing plants and American-grown food. It's time we negotiate trade agreements that lift workers up, not bring the pay and benefits of American workers down to the level of Mexico and China. It’s time we stopped rewarding companies that ship our jobs overseas and giving tax breaks to companies that shelter their money offshore. It’s time we stop giving money to the big banks that are strangling small businesses, which are the engine of economic growth and job creation in this country. And it’s time that we balance free trade with fair trade, so that the working people who contribute to the creation of wealth share in it.

61 62

21 19

Total Swing

Voter Preference

Pro-reform Opposition

66

0

16

0

0 20 40 60 80 100

Message Rating 1-100% Rating 80-100

%Rating 60-79

82

20

Dial-test resultsMade in America

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Note: This should probably be the central theme of Democratic economic messaging. It takes the offense from the start with a patriotic message that appeals to voters left, right, and center, and never loses any of them. It never explicitly attacks GOP economics, although it does so implicitly by contrasting Democratic and GOP economic principles in the final half.

If you only have 6 seconds...

I want to see the words "Made in America" again. It’s time our major import was something other than oil and our

major export was something other than American jobs. Americans should be working their way into the middle class, not

falling out of it. The best way to reduce the deficit is to put Americans back to

work. In times like these, millionaires should be giving to charity, not

getting it. (+39) It's time we reward people for what they contribute, not what

they can get away with taking (+47) Most of us don't expect to be rich or famous, but we do expect a

living wage and good American benefits for a hard day’s work (+53)

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Debt and taxes

Speaking of deficitsBack to work

The best way to reduce the deficit is to put Americans back to work. There are 15 million Americans who’ve lost their jobs through no fault of their own, and they’d be happy to be paying taxes again instead of drawing unemployment insurance. We’re not short on a work ethic in this country, we’re short on work, and if the private sector can’t create jobs, then it’s time to… put hard-working Americans back to work fixing what’s broken and investing in prosperity and opportunity. We’ve got jobs that need to be done and people who want to do them. We need to rebuild America, starting with fixing our roads, bridges, and crumbling schools, and harnessing the clean, safe fuels we should be leading the world in manufacturing, like wind turbines and solar cells. You can’t balance the budget when 15 million American are out of work and can’t balance theirs. So we can pay for employment or we can pay for unemployment. I’d rather put Americans to work, restoring their dignity, rebuilding our infrastructure, and getting our fiscal house back in order.

55 57

27 25

Total Swing

Voter Preference

Pro-reform Opposition

64

0

17

0

0 20 40 60 80 100

Message Rating 1-100% Rating 80-100

%Rating 60-79

81

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Dial-test resultsBack to work

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Note: This was a “homerun” message with voters across the political spectrum. Voters want jobs, and they want government to intervene to produce them. The unanimity across the political spectrum is striking. Economic insecurity right now trumps partisan ideology.

Speaking of taxes

Whose taxes

The question isn't who's going to cut your taxes, it's whose taxes they're going to cut. Over the last 30 years, the average middle class family barely saw their income rise, while the richest 1 percent saw theirs go up by a million a year after taxes. So I don’t want to hear about how we can’t afford to pay unemployment insurance to people who’ve lost their job through no fault of their own. I don’t want to hear about how we need to lay off policemen, firefighters, and teachers, when that just leaves them out in the cold and us unprotected, and prevents our kids from getting the first-class education they need to compete in the global economy. I don’t want to hear how we need to cut Medicare for our seniors, health care for our veterans, or Medicaid for poor children, many of whose parents are working three jobs to get by. It’s time we extended middle class tax cuts and ended them for millionaires. If they just paid those 4 cents on the dollar they used to pay—which is more than the average family earns in a year—we could rebuild our roads and schools, maintain essential services we all rely on, and start investing in America again. Americans should be working their way into the middle class, not falling out of it.

55

0

23

0

0 20 40 60 80 100

Message Rating 1-100% Rating 80-100

%Rating 60-79

78

25

52 54

31 28

Total Swing

Voter Preference

Pro-reform Opposition

Dial-test results

Note: This is another message that contrasts who should be paying less with who should be paying more, and the dials go up from start to finish, particularly with swing voters.

Whose taxes

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Speaking of the shrinking middle class

American Dream

The American Dream used to mean something, that if you put in a hard day's work, you could expect good American wages, benefits, and a better life for your kids. It meant that when products said "Made in America," people knew they were getting the highest quality manufactured goods money could buy…Now we're in danger of losing the middle class, as big corporations, CEOs, and their lobbyists are writing all the rules. It's time we stopped rewarding companies that ship our jobs overseas. It's time we stopped giving tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations when working Americans are struggling to make ends meet. And it's time we stopped signing free trade agreements and started signing fair trade agreements that bring the pay and benefits of American workers up, not down to the level of Mexico and China. You can't have a vibrant economy without a vibrant middle class, because someone's got to build things and someone's got to buy them. Our economy doesn't work if Americans aren't working and earning a fair wage. That's the bottom line.

Dial-test results

American Dream

This message was a homerun message from far right to far left, with scarcely any daylight between them in their final dial responses. A remarkable 67% rated it 80-100, which is a measure of extremely high positive emotional intensity in response to it. Whereas the strong GOP group dropped their dials momentarily with the hard hit on corporate greed and benefits to the rich, this message moved up from start to finish for all other groups, and ended at or near a remarkable 80 out of 100 for all three groups of partisans, including swing voters, broadly defined to include everyone from weak/moderate GOPs to weak/moderate Democrats.

Speaking of energy

There’s nothing more important we can do for our national security, our economy, and the earth we leave our children than to end our dependence on foreign oil. We can’t afford to be held hostage by Middle Eastern countries that are strangling our economy and funneling money to terrorist organizations every time we fill our gas tanks.  And we can’t afford to continue relying on fuels developed a century ago that pollute the air our children breathe and destroy our atmosphere. We need a partnership between government and business to harness our most extraordinary natural resource—American ingenuity—to develop clean, alternative sources of energy, like wind and solar. We need to put Americans to work manufacturing the most fuel-efficient cars in the world and invest in wind turbines that are already producing homegrown energy, so we can start sending American dollars to Middle America, not the Middle East.  And we need to put millions of Americans back to work refitting our homes and buildings for energy efficiency with jobs that can’t be shipped overseas.

Multiple values

If you only have 6 seconds...

Our greatest national resource is American ingenuity. Americans have led every technological revolution of the last

century. There’s no reason we can’t lead this one. It’s time to invest in clean, safe sources of energy, like wind

and solar, so we can start sending American dollars to Middle America, not the Middle East.

We can drill our way all the way to China, but all we’ll see when we get there are wind turbines.

Freedom, independence, and self-sufficiency are at the heart of who we are as a nation, and they should be at the heart of our strategy for energy independence in the 21st century.

We’re not going to end our dependence on oil overnight. But the last thing we need are long-term investments that take us backwards.

Energy

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Conclusions: Could we have predicted where we are today?

Lessons that should have been learned in the new administration’s first week (Huffington Post, January 26, 2009) Tell the story of how we got in this mess or you’ll own

it Tell a coherent story about deficit spending Re-brand government because there’s only one story

out there now (Reagan’s), and it’s not one that supports a progressive agenda

Never let attacks go unanswered If you throw a bipartisan party and no one comes,

don’t throw another one

Prologue and Epilogue

Strategic Messaging

Speaking of valuesPrinciples of Effective Communication

Drew Westen, Ph.D.May 2011

Speaking of values

Contact: dwesten@westenstrategies.com