For too long too much of our climate crisis framing has resonated only with the already convinced. That is still going on today, this very minute. Even Greta is doing it, with an important exception I’ll mention later in this piece. But before the rest of us can get more effective, we need to be […]
Say: “Move America Forward?”
In the first Democratic presidential debate, Andrew Yang proposed a slogan, “Not left, not right, forward!” The next day I corrected it on Twitter to be “Forward, not left, not right!” My explanation for this change was familiar to my readers: always put the positive first. But today I’m suggesting a far more important edit: […]
GOTV Plus: Revisiting How to frame it “American” Now
Framing Our Climate March Messages to Persuade: September 2018
On September 8 there will be climate marches all over our planet. The date has been chosen, no doubt, in order to increase pressure on and publicity for The Global Climate Action Summit four days later in San Francisco. Here in California, Mark Baldaserre, CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California, has commented that […]
How to use “#SharedSecurityWorks. #PreemptiveWarFails!” Now
With President Trump’s choice of Bolton as National Security Adviser and Pompeo for State, our country has reached a more dangerous place than ever, especially in the light of new U.S. air strikes on Syria. A wide range of Americans, even Republicans, have been appalled by the choice of Bolton, an open supporter of preemptive […]
What “#(Americans)StepUp _______” Can Do Right Now
Readers who follow me on Twitter and The Metaphor Project’s FB page may have noticed that as 2018 began, I started using the hashtag “#AmericansStepUp_______” or variants of it. (1) With it I identify news and frames about people, communities, or states countering DC folly with positive projects at home. The most recent example is […]
Say: “Stop the GOP war on America: (fill in the blanks). “
Emerging from a long stretch of social media push back, I’ve been thinking about something more permanent. How might we create an “umbrella” frame that would bring it all together in a form all of us can use? As Naomi Klein has shown, a key part of the “shock doctrine” is overwhelming the victim with […]
How to Write Slogans That Move! (Better than “a better deal!)
When they aren’t reacting to Trump’s latest outrage, people are talking about the Democrats’ horrible new slogan, “a better deal.” Winning the ’18 election for a better House is one of the most important ways we can fight back. For that the Democrats need a much better slogan. Even “Get a better deal—go Blue in […]
Say “Build a common sense American future!”
Framing Our March Messages to Persuade
This year April is march month: the Tax march on 4.15, the Science March on 4.22 and the People’s Climate March on 4.29. As a tactic, marching does create a highly visible sign of resistance. Large numbers of people have made it a priority to drop whatever they do on Saturdays and show up in the […]