Josh Marshall has an open letter to Senate Democrats about their Iraq messaging:
The Democrats have to be much more aggressive. But 'more aggressive' doesn't mean a quicker withdrawal. It means making your point forcefully, on your own terms, repeatedly.Marshall's advice is sound. I just want to focus on one small aspect of the Democratic messaging: STOP using Karl Rove's language.
But they're not doing that.
What I see is Republicans on TV repeating their 'cut and run' charges. And to the extent I see Democrats, it's Democrats denying the charge. No, we're not for cutting and running.
I saw a snippet of Dianne Feinstein's floor speech today on CNN. The first line was "Despite what may have been said these past few days, our amendment is not about cutting and running." Now I know that wasn't the first line of her full floor statement, but it's what got picked up by CNN. Even Soledad pointed out to Carville that saying your opponent's line was bad messaging.
At the beginning of 2005, George Lakoff's book on framing, Don't Think of an Elephant, was all the rage. One of the most important lessons was to avoid using GOP frames. That's the trap they've fallen in to on the Iraq debate. STOP IT. NOW.
