GOP Frames

Posted on 09/13/2008 at 7:49 am by Bob Cesca

Following up on that Lakoff article… I was just watching this web video questioning McCain’s lack of honor and integrity. It’s pretty strong, but it makes a key mistake.

The first line of dialogue reinforces McCain’s Vietnam experience. Regardless of the context, anytime the words “McCain” and “Vietnam” are mentioned in the same sentence, it’s a win for McCain. Everyone knows about McCain and Vietnam, so there’s no reason to mention it. Same goes for “McCain” and “POW.” Likewise, anytime the words “Palin” and “Mom” or “Baby” or “Small Town” are mentioned in the same sentence, Palin wins.

Yet there’s a wide variety of words that need to be superglued to any mention of the Republican ticket. Bridge to Nowhere is a huge one. The details don’t even matter. Anytime the words “Palin” and “Bridge to Nowhere” are mentioned in the same sentence, Palin loses. Anytime the words “McCain” and “Bush” are mentioned in the same sentence, McCain loses.

Other words include: Liars, Flip-floppers, Sell-outs, Incompetent, Corrupted, Angry, Impulsive, Out of Touch, Clueless, Super-rich, Far-right, Racist and so on.

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  • http://www.thedailybanter.com Ari Rutenberg

    the Obama campaign, and Democrats in general, seem to have a lot of difficulty understanding the whole issue of framing. It’s not as if there’s scarcity of information and scholarly work available on the issue, and there are plenty of people who cover this issue regularly such as blogger Jeffrey Feldman, who writes a blog called Frameshop and discusses this very issue several times a week in specific reference to this Election. Are they willfully ignorant of the wealth of knowledge available, or are they simply unwilling to be aggressive enough in creating their own frames for this election?

  • JJD

    People are even more reluctant to vote for a geriatric than a black man. Is McCain lying, or is he senile? Use Abe Simpson graphic a lot.This takes the focus on what he was (war hero), and replaces it with what he is (doddering old fool). Use the video of him checking out Palin’s ass while she’s speaking.

  • http://livefreeordie08.wordpress.com LiveFreeOrDie08

    I think the events of this week have also opened up an opportunity for Obama to co-opt a Republican meme. Obama is now the guy America looks to for “Straight Talk”. Iraq/Economy/whatever. Show how he has had and continues to have the proven correct position (proven by aquiescence from Bush and/or McCain – i.e. Pakistan/Afghanistan/Change/yadda,yadda,yadda)Obama/Biden – Straight Talk, Honest Leadership

  • Nellcote

    Go after McCain’s “honor” as in his lying campaign is dishonorable. It invokes lack of patriotism without being that limiting. And it flips McCain out noticeably.