Reframing the debate: not Conservatives, but Regressives

[s-cubed]

Good article on ways to reframe the debate.

What's In A Name? Everything.
How Progressives Can Start Winning Again By Renaming Their Opponents and Reframing The Debate

by David Michael Green

<snip>
So we must adopt the label 'progressives', but more importantly, what do we call our good friends on the right?
<snip>

I propose that one of the easiest and smartest single moves we can make toward winning the political war in which we are engaged is to start calling our opponents 'regressives' instead of conservatives. 'Regressive', as in: "We don't want to regress back to consigning our elderly to a life of poverty." Or, as in: "We oppose returning to back-alley abortions." Or: "We believe in moving the civil rights agenda forward, not backward." Or, "The regressive right is taking us back to a polarization of wealth not seen since the Gilded Age." And so on.
<snip>

This term meets all the criteria just described. It makes powerfully clear the distinction between the us and them. It takes policy disputes over reproductive rights, civil liberties, Social Security, taxes, foreign policy and most everything else, and it fits these into a simple thematic framework which unites these otherwise disparate ideas. And, it does so in a fashion which is intrinsically and, (to us good guys) favorably, judgmental: We're forward thinking. They want to return to the bad old days.
<snip>

Changing how the public labels categories changes the associations those labels invoke in people's minds, which in turn changes their affective attitudes toward what is being described. Too many American unconsciously think 'wasteful', 'wimpy', 'criminal-coddling', 'anti-religious', 'baby-killing', 'tree-hugging' wackos when they see or hear the word 'liberal'. Progressives saddled with that kind of baggage start out eleven points down in a ten point game. No wonder we keep losing.
<snip>

But the smartest, easiest and most fruitful step we can take today is to label ourselves the progressives we in fact are, and our adversaries the regressives we know them to be.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0208-21.htm

[New Earth]

1. I love it.

"Regressives" it is.

[s-cubed]

8. HI, Faye!

We were in England for 8 days, so I'm behind on the news. I throught "regressive republicans" had a real nice alliterative ring to it.

[New Earth]

10. great

i wish i was in England for 8 days!!! Hope you had fun :hi:

[patricia92243]

2. Good idea. The Republicans have always realized the importance of labels.

It is time we Progressive Lefts wake up to the Regressive Right's use of the English language to further their cause.

[NEOBuckeye]

3. The Progressive Left vs. The Regressive Right

I like it!

[Walt Starr]

4. I said that on May 25, 2004 in this very forum

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1665361

[rockymountaindem]

5. I like the term "reactionary"

because that's all they do. They see something happening that they don't like, they have a stiff reaction. They're not innovators like we are. Being a reactionary means you're out of control, which they are because Progressives like us change society. That's why we've progressed so much over the past 5000 years.

[intheflow]

6. Awesome! RW no longer "right-wing" but "regressive-wing".

And god knows they certainly want to regress us back to the Victorian era! This is a great phrase I'm adopting immediately.

[Walt Starr]

7. Pushed the meme in the other GD forum on November 4, too

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1347714

[genius]

9. Regressives - absolutely appropriate

Oh, "baby-bombers" is also an accurate term for conservatives.

[ClassWarrior]

11. I like Radical Right Wing. We need to make sure people understand that...

...EVERY fucking thing they want to do is extremely radical and out-of-the-mainstream.

I also like the frame of the New Right Wing Permissiveness: HeadRush's pill popping, Bill Bennett's gambling, Ahnuld's sexual harassement, etc. That'll go a long way toward discrediting the "morality" crowd.

NGU.

[zeek]

12. We need to reframe the party not the republicans

We need to return to traditional Deocratic issues. The things we have either abandoned or let the pubs steal.

The issues we need to focus on are things like fair trade (not free trade!), education and civil rights. Those ring with American voters, but when was the last time you heard a prominant democrat address them in a constructive manner on a national stage. The freaking republicans own education as an issue now because we have leaders who have instead concentrated on the "progressive cause of the hour". Three years from now they will own Social Security as well.

We need to abandon the unpopular "minority agendas" like Gun control, global warming, gay rights, and choice. The militant democratic stance on those issues is unpopular with most american voters, and we will become an also ran party unless we change.

[ClassWarrior]

13. But we need to focus on values, not issues.

You need to read "Don't Think of an Elephant," which really lays out what "framing" is and what it accomplishes - better than I can do here.

It's only $10, and the best Progressive political book of the year. I bought 3 for Christmas presents this year.

NGU.

[Rockerdem]

14. Not good enough - it will be confined to the friendly part of the internet

We need a more clever moniker, one that will be adopted by the national media. It has to be subtle to work. This one will be margninalized in a heartbeat. And if thats the case, why not stick to nazis?

[toddaa]

15. More reframing: Christian Supremists

It's a phrase I've been using to describe those "Christian" types who have the same mindset as White Supremists. In other words, people who don't believe as they do do not share the same rights and privileges they do. Jim Crow for nonfundamentalists.