I read the latest Lakoff (prounced as in Lake
Off) book on his advice to the Democrats. I'm not giving the Amazon
connection for the book because I don't recommend the book to intelligent readers.
George Lakoff was a source of my understanding the way language is structured to reflect underlying ideas, metaphors and images. The word "over," for example, is a reflection of the image of an upside-down cone; you can use the cone unawares, to determine if an airplane or a satellite is passing "over" your computer. Lakoff's main book is Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things. After making that contribution, Lakoff seems to have lost his way. Each book is worse and the last few are the product of a Berkeley academic party-hack.
Now Lakoff thinks that
political issues are “framed” by words and phrases; behind the
frame is an idea. To show what nonsense this is Lakoff argues that
all Republican frames are based on an image of paternal authority;
Democrats should, in contrast, use an image of nurturing parents. So
where does “compassionate conservative” fit in or “no child
left behind?”
Reasoning is not the forte of a party ideolog.
In the real world of politics there is an ongoing national dialog based on a few tent pole concepts. The larger common American tent poles are meritocracy (equality of opportunity) and American exceptionalism. Right now the polar party differences are around support for commerce and modernity on one side and all-change-is-dangerous on the other side.
Both parties
pre-test words and messages in focus groups before they use them. If
Lakoff is taken seriously, it will be to the Republicans advantage
because the Republicans have already established the (Lakoff) frame
that the Democrats are a party without ideas. The metaphor behind the
Democrats is a 20-something stay at home whining child who won't
leave home and get a job (this image was suggested to me by my son in a recent email.)
Policy in Washington is driven largely by experience and intelligence, but selling the public is a different discourse. To understand that the party in power now is the party of ideas one need only compare the most recent articles in Commentary to the Democrat's views that have been losing ground around the world for fifteen years; these losing views are presented in The Nation.