Before the past few Thanksgivings, some media outlets have run pieces advising readers or viewers on how to respond to right-wing, Fox-concocted talking points that one or more relatives might regurgitate at the dinner table. As the above video from this past November 23 indicates, Ed Schultz invited Occupy Wall Street hero Jesse LaGreca on MSNBC’s “Ed Show” to do just that. Jesse does a good job using logic, facts, and figures to respond to the right-wing talking points raised by Ed. However, if you’re simply being reactive rather than proactive in these situations, you’ve already lost the political argument.
Daily Kos blogger Jesse LaGrecarecently became Occupy Wall Street‘s first bona fide media star when he gave a scathing interview to Fox “News” (see video above). Note how Jesse takes the loaded, biased questions from Fox’s Griff Jenkins and reframes them to answer the questions by listing almost all major Progressive talking points. Jesse was so effective that Fox reportedly has not even aired the interview.
This is an important lesson for Progressives and Democrats, which goes back to the Messaging Manifesto For Democrats: rather than reacting within the Right’s biased framing of issues and questions, which occur whenever they appear on Fox for an interview, Democrats and Progressives must “create and repeat their own powerful frames through which to characterize the issues and their solutions.” And that’s exactly what Jesse LaGreca does.
Based on this interview and subsequent television appearances, Jesse LaGreca certainly has a future in activism, political communications, and, if he wants, politics too.
President Barack Obama gave a stunning speech yesterday in front of the “functionally obsolete” Brent Spence Bridge connecting Ohio and Kentucky. The President’s speech touting his American Jobs Act marks a sharp turnaround from the cool, professorial, unemotional Barack Obama that America has become used to, and which many voters dislike. This time, as with his recent speeches to promote the American Jobs Act, Obama is doing almost everything right regarding effective political messaging:
The following is a list of phrases widely used by Republicans in the political arena. These simple, catchy phrases, many of which were developed using focus groups, are part of the Republicans’ successful, coordinated effort to frame issues in their favor. See how many of these phrases you recognize as part of everyday political discourse that you read or hear in the media or in discussions with people you know. Notice how nearly all of the phrases are loaded terms, framed by the Republicans to benefit their party and/or to criticize the Democratic Party.
The summer of 2010 was the second summer in a row in which Democrats lost control of the political message, and the news cycle. Given the 2010 election results, how did that work for you?
What’s the Problem?
In the summer of 2009, Republicans and their Tea Party surrogates took over Congressional town hall meetings, repeating false phrases such as “government-run health care.” Democrats dawdled for weeks, and when they finally responded, all they could muster was “no it isn’t.” Guess who won that battle? The “health care reform” law passed by the Democrats who control Congress and the presidency was severely watered down.
