HuffPost:: Brand First, Equivocate Later

[LongTomH]

Drew Westin's op-ed piece at the Huffington Post lays out the task for Democrats in this election cycle: Brand First, Equivocate Later: The Message of Denver and the Importance of Defining McCain-Palin Before They Define Themselves

Obama is now poised to break 50 percent in the polls. Whether he does so, and whether he wins or loses in November, will likely depend on whether he, his campaign team, and the Democrats learn the lessons of this convention, or whether they backslide in debates and public statements into the politics of meandering, dispassionate prose; failure to demonstrate toughness, resolve, and, yes, aggression where appropriate; and failure to understand that the best time to shape the public discourse is before the other side has had a chance to "sell" its version of truth to the American people. Decades of research in social psychology have demonstrated that two of most important principles of persuasion when people have a choice between options are to get there first--to tell your side of the story--and to inoculate against what the other side is likely to say. Democratic consultants need to read that research--tonight--and stop relying on the same intuitions that have proven wrong in election after election. We are supposed to be the party of science, yet we constantly practice political creationism.

A case in point is the way the Obama campaign appears poised to respond (or, more accurately, not to respond) to McCain's choice of a running mate, which they need to do immediately, before the start of the GOP Convention. Paul Begala has described how the narratives that sway the electorate are like constellations of stars in the sky. If your opponent picks and chooses just the right stars to place in the sky (and which ones to leave out, because they get in the way of the story he is trying to tell), he can create a constellation that shines like stars on a crystal clear night, whether that constellation is one designed to make his own stars twinkle or your candidate's stars flame out or obscured by cloud cover. It's a campaign's job to put the right stars up in the sky to create the constellations that tell the story it wants to tell about both its own candidate and its opponent. In the language of neuroscience, a campaign needs to connect the dots for voters to create networks of associations--an interconnected set of thoughts, images, ideas, metaphors, and feelings--toward each candidate that tell a compelling story about each, and to repeat that those stories enough times and in enough ways to make them "stick."

The constellation McCain would like to project this week is that this was a bold move of a maverick reformer, an effort to break the glass ceiling for women, an effort to bring executive experience to his team, and the elevation to prominence of a young, socially conservative reformer with a moving story of her commitment to the crusade against all abortions. Palin decided last year not to abort a baby she knew would suffer from Down Syndrome, and she will no doubt showcase that decision and her new baby at the GOP Convention. But by putting a richer collection of stars in the sky, the Obama campaign can create an entirely different set of constellations before the GOP even begins its branding of McCain's decision and his running mate this week.

Dr.Westin is basically restating the "framing" concept of George Lakoff in different terms. I do think he's right; we've got to reframe/rebrand whatever message the Republicans are trying to send with the selection of Sarah Palin. With her, they've got the social conservatives; we've got to keep them from appealing to the rest of the electorate.

More at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/drew-westen/brand-first-equivocate-la_b_122855.html

[Fluffdaddy]

1. Good read

[stillcool]

2. He's done such a poor job till now...

even with all the help being offered by so many people.