Transcript The Public
Talking American and Values: How to Win on Health Care David Domke Department of Communication University of Washington Agenda 1. The Public 2. Messages 3. Example Section 1 The Public The Public, 1: Decision-making The Public, 1: Decision-making Drew Westen: The Political Brain, 2007 The Public, 1: Decision-making “ Drew Westen: The Political Brain, 2007 Two visions of mind and brain have dominated contemporary American politics. One is a dispassionate vision, which suggests that voters choose candidates by examining their positions on the issues and coolly calculating their relative costs and benefits. The other, a passionate vision, suggests that voters are moved by the feelings that candidates and parties elicit in them and are guided by their shared values and goals. The Public, 1: Decision-making “ Drew Westen: The Political Brain, 2007 The dispassionate vision has guided much of the strategy that has reliably cost Democrats winnable elections over the past four decades, and it could do so again in 2008. It suggests that the way to convince voters is to offer them the portfolio of issues and facts that most appeals to their self-interest. But this vision flies in the face of everything we know about how the mind and brain actually work. It flies in the face of 40 years of socialscience research. It flies in the face of American political history. The Public, 1: Decision-making By my count, voters disagreed with Ronald Reagan on about 75 percent of ‘the issues.’ But they liked him. They believed he would restore America’s greatness. They voted with their values. So do Democrats, but their candidates too often hide their values in the fine print of their policies. … If you don’t make people feel the healthcare crisis — either as a disaster that could one day hit them or as something that just isn’t right — you won’t win on health care, regardless of how sound your plan is. “ “ Drew Westen: The Political Brain, 2007 The Public, 2: Engagement The Public, 2: Engagement Dutiful Relational The Public, 2: Engagement Dutiful Obligatory Relational The Public, 2: Engagement Dutiful Obligatory Relational S/elective The Public, 2: Engagement Dutiful Obligatory Citizenship = formal acts Relational S/elective The Public, 2: Engagement Dutiful Relational Obligatory S/elective Citizenship = formal acts Citizenship = everyday acts The Public, 2: Engagement Dutiful Relational Obligatory S/elective Citizenship = formal acts Citizenship = everyday acts Receive media The Public, 2: Engagement Dutiful Relational Obligatory S/elective Citizenship = formal acts Citizenship = everyday acts Receive media Navigate media The Public, 2: Engagement Dutiful Relational Obligatory S/elective Citizenship = formal acts Citizenship = everyday acts Receive media Navigate media Joiners The Public, 2: Engagement Dutiful Relational Obligatory S/elective Citizenship = formal acts Citizenship = everyday acts Receive media Navigate media Joiners Networkers The Public, 2: Engagement Dutiful Relational Obligatory S/elective Citizenship = formal acts Citizenship = everyday acts Receive media Navigate media Joiners Networkers Want security The Public, 2: Engagement Dutiful Relational Obligatory S/elective Citizenship = formal acts Citizenship = everyday acts Receive media Navigate media Joiners Networkers Want security Want epicness The Public, 2: Engagement Dutiful Relational The Public, 3: Age The Public, 3: Age States by age: Youngest The Public, 3: Age 1. Utah States by age: Youngest 2. Texas 3. Alaska 4. Idaho 5. California 6. Georgia 7. Mississippi 8. Louisiana 9. Arizona 10. Colorado Section 2 Messages Messages and the Public words meaning Messages and the Public Behaviors/opinions Regularly listen to National Public Radio Buy coffee at coffee shops at least once a week Shop Wal-Mart regularly or once in a while U.S. adults Poll Question 1 Do you regularly listen to National Public Radio? Yes No Click on the down arrow if you can’t see the response choices. Messages and the Public Behaviors/opinions Regularly listen to National Public Radio Buy coffee at coffee shops at least once a week Shop Wal-Mart regularly or once in a while U.S. adults 10% Poll Question 2 Do you buy coffee at coffee shops at least once a week? Yes No Click on the down arrow if you can’t see the response choices. Messages and the Public Behaviors/opinions U.S. adults Regularly listen to National Public Radio 10% Buy coffee at coffee shops at least once a week 10% Shop Wal-Mart regularly or once in a while Messages and the Public Behaviors/opinions U.S. adults Regularly listen to National Public Radio 10% Buy coffee at coffee shops at least once a week 10% Shop Wal-Mart regularly or once in a while Messages and the Public Behaviors/opinions U.S. adults Regularly listen to National Public Radio 10% Buy coffee at coffee shops at least once a week 10% Shop Wal-Mart regularly or once in a while 84% Section 3 An Example The Climate Change Movement The Climate Change Movement The Climate Change Movement Responsibility Legacy for future Opportunity The Climate Change Movement transp The Climate Change Movement transp energy The Climate Change Movement transp rich/ poor energy The Climate Change Movement rich/ poor transp Security Legacy for future Opportunity consum energy The Climate Change Movement RICH/ POOR TRANSP Responsibility Legacy for future Opportunity ENERGY The Climate Change Movement Two Approaches The Climate Change Movement The Climate Change Movement 1. Mary Pearl, president Wildlife Trust The Climate Change Movement “ 1. Mary Pearl, president Wildlife Trust One of the most important and overlooked ecosystems in the world is in areas of rapid land conversion, where agriculture is encroaching on wilderness and where wildlife, livestock and humans are in close proximity. When you talk about emerging diseases, that's where they're emerging from. Nipah virus, which was first identified in Malaysia in 1999, is an example. The Climate Change Movement 1. Mary Pearl, president Wildlife Trust “ Pig farms were carved out of forested areas, and fruit orchards were planted next to the pig enclosures, which brought pigs into contact with fruit bats, the natural reservoir for Nipah virus. The virus spread to pigs and then to the farmers, and the ones who caught it had a 40 percent mortality rate. Organizations such as ours are pioneering a new specialty we call conservation medicine. In developed countries, the default assumption is that you're healthy unless you have a specific disease. The Climate Change Movement In developing nations you have a whole cornucopia of pathogens: malnutrition, exposure to pesticides and other toxins, a heavy parasite load, and people are living among livestock and wildlife. Jonathan Patz of the University of Wisconsin documented a huge upsurge in malaria-carrying mosquitoes in the Peruvian Amazon, corresponding with intensive settlement and deforestation. Clearing the trees changed the population balance among the mosquitoes. Those are the kinds of challenges we’re increasingly going to face in the 21st century. “ “ 1. Mary Pearl, president Wildlife Trust The Climate Change Movement The Climate Change Movement 2. Rich Cizik, VP of Natl. Assoc. Evangelicals The Climate Change Movement “ 2. Rich Cizik, VP of Natl. Assoc. Evangelicals The protection of the environment is a Biblically rooted epic task straight from God. The status quo [of how we treat the earth] is simply unacceptable. The idea that we can continue as a nation without exhibiting leadership to the rest of the world in this crisis is simply anathema. We have to be at the forefront of providing energy-efficient green solutions across the board, from autos to heating and air conditioning. We have to show leadership if India and China are to follow. Yet we’re at the back of the line; that’s not American. The Climate Change Movement 2. Rich Cizik, VP of Natl. Assoc. Evangelicals “ I’m a Ronald Reagan sunny conservative, and I know for a fact that evangelicals are can-do, solution-oriented entrepreneurs. Instead of looking at global warming as Jerry Falwell has called it, ‘Satan’s diversion,’ we should see it as a note from God that says, ‘I said to be a steward, my children. Sin has consequence, and if you pollute this earth there will be a price to pay. But it’s not too late, and with my help you can restore Eden.’ The Climate Change Movement Environmentalism is the civil-rights issue of the 21st century, and one doesn’t have to look too far back to see that evangelicals sat on their hands when it came to civil rights for blacks. I refuse to sit on my hands and allow the evangelical heritage to be sullied again, because the very reputation of the evangelical witness is at stake. It’s crucial that we not make the mistake of our fathers. “ “ 2. Rich Cizik, VP of Natl. Assoc. Evangelicals Talking American Talking American Third Way Project, October 2005 Talking American “ Third Way Project, October 2005 Since the mid-1950s, and more notably after 1968, the [Democratic] party has been home to both highly educated upscale professionals and less well educated working class voters. Not only do upscale professionals lead lives that are quite different from those of average families, they also tend to think and speak differently. Complex professional discourse tends to create a barrier between our candidates and the voters with whom they must communicate. Talking American “ Third Way Project, October 2005 Democratic candidates who are far removed from the lives and feelings of average families will have a hard time understanding the daily challenges these families face... It is no accident, we believe, that Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, and John Kerry, the three recent Democratic candidates most closely connected with the outlook of the professional class, found it so difficult to convey their agendas and concerns to the electorate, or that Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, with their small-town roots, were more able to do so. Talking American Democratic candidates who are far removed from the lives and feelings of average families will have a hard time understanding the daily challenges these families face... “ “ Third Way Project, October 2005 If Democratic candidates do not “speak American” as a native language, average Americans will find it hard to believe that these candidates really understand or care about them. Talking American Democratic candidates who are far removed from the lives and feelings of average families will have a hard time understanding the daily challenges these families face... If do not “speak American” as a native language, average Americans will find it hard to believe that really understand or care about them. “ “ Third Way Project, October 2005