The Little Blue Book: The Essential Guide to Thinking and Talking Democratic

Here is what to say: American democracy is built on the ethic of citizens caring about other citizens. Its moral mission is to protect and empower everyone equally by the provision of public resources. The Public is the foundation for the Private—for decent private lives and for private enterprise that works. No one makes it on his or her own witho

Moral values are primary. They define what the issue areas are and place limits on possible policies. What about abstract ideals such as freedom, justice, fairness, equality, loyalty, accountability, authority, sanctity, and even caring? These are what linguists call contested concepts. They are ideas that appear to have a very simple, generally ag

The War on Women strategy has the advantages of uniting progressive women in a common cause and of raising money from women. But it also has disadvantages. First, it frames women as victims under attack. Second, it posits that conservatives are involved in a conscious movement to attack women, which is hard to sell except to liberals and which is p

As an example of superordinate-level and basic-level wording in public discourse, consider the environmental debate. The word environment is an abstract category. There is no one clear image that comes to mind when hearing it; there is no complex motor planning or visual imagery activated. Contrast this with the words forest, soil, water, air, and

Liberal TV commentators tend to practice the same pattern. First they will recite a quote or show a film clip from a conservative, repeat the conservative claim out loud, and only then cite the facts contradicting the claim. Activists do the same. An Occupy Wall Street sign read, “Obama is not a brown-skinned anti-war socialist who gives away free

One finding of cognitive science is that words have the most powerful effect on our minds when they are simple. The technical term is basic level.11 Basic-level words tend to be short. Basic-level words are the ones children learn most easily, making up our most basic conceptual repertoire. Basic-level words are easily remembered; those messages wi

To sum up: Use your own language; never use your opponent’s language. Be aware of what you believe and repeat it out loud over and over; never repeat ideas that you don’t believe in, even if you are arguing against them. Be positive. Be authentic. Bring it home. Say it simply.

The brain is structured in terms of what are called cascades. A cascade is a network of neurons that links many brain circuits. All of the linked circuits must be active at once to produce a given understanding. Simply put, the brain does not handle single ideas as separate entities: a bigger context, a logical construct within which the idea is de

By 2010 Obamacare had become a dirty word, and the most radical Republicans won their elections and took over the House with a promise to repeal it. What the Obama administration missed was the opportunity to argue on the basis of the same moral ideals of freedom and life. Serious illness without health care takes away your liberty and threatens yo