Some dude sent a memo around the Hill. Yawn. What insight!
“Republicans have been kicking our rhetorical butt since about 1995,” [Dave] Helfert wrote…
His memo is sharply critical of Republican policies but also suggests a neurological explanation for Republican message success: By using emotional appeals and warning of dire threats, Republicans can trigger neurons called “amygdalae” in the temporal lobe, which is the seat of the “fight or flight” response in the brain.
“Almost every Republican message contains a simple and direct moral imperative, a stark contrast between good and evil, right and wrong, common sense and fuzzy liberal thinking,” Helfert wrote. “Meanwhile, we’re trying to ignite passions with analyses of optimum pupil-teacher ratios.”
Score one for George Lakoff. Who cares?
Here’s what interested me (emphasis mine).
But another Democratic aide said Helfert’s memo reflects the frustration of many of those with a role in getting the message out. Several hundred of them assembled for Monday’s meeting in the Ways and Means Committee room.
“I don’t agree with every point he’s making, but the sentiment of exasperation I totally agree with,” said the aide.
As a case in point, he cited Democrats’ frustration over the likely showdown with President Bush over supplemental spending for the Iraq war. Democrats are discussing not sending a supplemental spending bill to the floor until Bush changes course on the war. But that makes many Democrats nervous that Bush will use the tactic to say Democrats aren’t supporting the troops.
“Are we any more prepared to deal with the threats that are going to come about cutting off funds to the troops?” asked the aide.
Okay!! Democrats are ‘discussing not sending a supplemental spending bill to the floor until Bush changes course on the war.’. That’s good. That’s very, very good. Here’s a piece of advice. Follow through on this idea. What’s more, get the presidential candidates to support you and take the lead on this strategy. If any candidate won’t support it, toss them aside. Just say no.
The president is polling at 24%. His idea of a comeback is to veto health care for children and cut off people’s heat in the middle of winter. And you are afraid of this?
Republicans have done a better job by developing poll data into focus group-tested messages like “culture of life” and “defending marriage,” along with attacks like “cut and run” and “plan for surrender” in Iraq, he argued.
In particular, Helfert points to Republican pollster Frank Luntz, who helped develop the 1994 “Contract with America” and is credited with helping Republicans come up with terms for polices like “Healthy Forests” and “Death Tax.”
Here is our rebuttal. ‘You elected us to get us out of Iraq and we are going to get us out of Iraq. We gave the president a surge…it hasn’t worked. We will appropriate no more money for Iraq except funds to facilitate a total withdrawal of our troops. We will not drop this fiasco on the doorstep of the next president.’
Say it over and over again.