Carlos over at Jesus Politics links to this Lakoff article, which I have excerpted a choice chunk:
Jesus Politics: Our Moral Values are Better
link to Common Dreams
(article from The Nation)
By talking to their base, they are activating their base model in swing voters. When liberals move to the right, they are shooting themselves in both feet: They alienate their base and they activate the other side’s models in the swing voters, thus helping the other side.
Democrats in Congress need to understand this. They must hold their ground, be positive and be aware that moving to the right is a double disaster. It will only help the radical right’s agenda, break with values that unify us and make it harder to awaken our values in swing voters.
The only way to trump their moral values is with our own more traditional and more patriotic moral values. Proclaim them and live them, and we will find that there are many more than 55 million of us.
Rather than say “our Values are better”, I prefer to say “They are real” and “To be lived”. Ethics involve ACTION rather than (or in addition to) mere intellectual assent and the embodiment of “ideas” in a dogma. DO unto others as YOU would have them DO unto you”. All action.
I agree with Lakoff for the most part except for the abortion issue. I think that the “strict father” that embodies the conservative/religious right is spot on, and it reflects how they view God. The “nuturing” model that Lakoff puts forth I think ends up closer describing who God is, even though that is not how he intends to use it, especially because he’s also “pro-choice” and I am not.