GregsOpinion.com

Much like Kevin Drum, I have a copy of George Lakoff's "Don't Think of an Elephant" in my hands over this Thanksgiving Holiday. I hit page 43, and Lakoff loses me in telling the tale of how Democrats lost Gray Davis's recall election because of bad framing. There's a lot of detail that I skip over here, but by the time it gets to page 43, the reason becomes this:

In addition, Davis made the bad mistake of accepting the Democratic Leadership Council's metaphor of campaigning as marketing. In the DLC model, you look for a list of particular issues that a majority of people, including those on the left, support. In the last Congressional election it was prescription drugs, social security, and a woman's right to choose. If necessary, you "move to the right" - adopt some right-wing values in hope of getting "centrist" voters. Davis, for example, favored the death penalty and tough sentencing, and supported the prison guards' union. It's a self-defeating strategy. Conservatives have been winning elections without moving to the left.

Now, I really don't know where to begin on this one to make the best argument for Lakoff's ill-made point, but let me state a few things that get to the heart of this: