November 05, 2004
George Lakoff
Pretty much everyone can agree that part of the reason Democrats lost was that we let the Republicans eat our lunch on moral values for the last however many years, and that as a party we've done a poor job articulating our core values. We have a set of issues that the country identifies with us, but we've not effectively laid bare the common moral thread from which those issues spring forth.
As we set about thinking how to better express our moral values and reframe the national debate on issues to accomodate them, I urge everyone to take time out to read George Lakoff, who's been doing the grunt work on this for the last decade. Your first stop should be Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think, which is the canonical source on the topic. Then read Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives, which is manifesto-sized and topical.
For a taste of Lakoff if you haven't read him or know who he is, see these two articles.
As we set about thinking how to better express our moral values and reframe the national debate on issues to accomodate them, I urge everyone to take time out to read George Lakoff, who's been doing the grunt work on this for the last decade. Your first stop should be Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think, which is the canonical source on the topic. Then read Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives, which is manifesto-sized and topical.
For a taste of Lakoff if you haven't read him or know who he is, see these two articles.
