A favorite topic of this space is the way words are turned into messages--persuasive language intended to motivate people to do hard things like giving money or voting. Today's Washington Post brings an update from the Democrats, who as previously noted here have been lumbering towards cohesiveness with the grace and subtlety of an elephant. First they're days away from announcing their new campaign theme; than they're not. First Nancy Pelosi finds a guru she trusts, then he's out. According to the Post, announcement of the Democrats' latest national agenda has been "pushed back and no hard launch date has been chosen." I can only imagine how many drafts they've been through and consultants and writers they've fired.
Words matter. Years ago, when I was learning the art of political propaganda from a very smart media consultant named Arnold Bennett, he showed me a neat move we used in a Florida Congressional race. In those days, radio and TV spots had to include the spoken words of the campaign "authority line" which was invariably something generic like "Citizens for Trotsky" or "Friends of Bebe Rebozo." But Arnold saw an additional propaganda opportunity in the authority line, and named the committee "Senior Citizens and Working Families for George Sheldon."
Now, federal candidates have to say "I'm Monty Python, and I approved this message," which takes the fun out of that trick completely.
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