Getting centrists to sound more progressive

Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 04/05/2005 - 14:58

(Originally posted at Greater Democracy)

Yesterday, I wrote a blog entry comparing The Scream to The Kiss. The timing was opportune. Last Wednesday, Joe Lieberman spoke to the Democratic State Central Committee in Hartford. Friday, my wife and I had coffee with the Senator and on Sunday, the Senator gave my wife a kiss, reminiscent of the kiss the Senator received from President Bush.

Since putting up my blog entry, I’ve gotten comments, emails, and phone calls from people all over the political spectrum. Several people have pointed me to the article in the Journal Inquirer, which asks, “Is U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman getting a bad rap”?

The article analyzes Sen. Lieberman’s voting record, and finds that he isn’t really all that different from many other Democratic Senators. So, why are people so interested in taking down Joe? Perhaps the quote from Keith Crane sums it up best.

"His record is probably no better or worse than anyone else; it probably matches Dodd's 80 or 90 percent of the time," he acknowledged. "But you don't see Dodd on Fox News bashing the Dems."

Myrna Watanabe, who was also quoted in the article, commented to me in a personal email, “Immediately, I see the problem is not that he has voted with the Reps. on important issues, he has accepted how they frame the argument. He talks about needing to "fix" Social Security, when it isn't broken, etc. He needs some vocabulary training, if he's to survive with our blessings.”

I think Myrna and Keith are on the right track with this, and it should be reformulated to be a more general question: How do we get centrists to think more progressively and use more progressive language?

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Getting centrists to sound more progressive

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 04/05/2005 - 15:16.

TrackBack from DemSpeak:

Recently, I had coffee with Senator Joe Lieberman, who I know a lot of progressives dislike. I wrote a bit about it here.

As I expected, the blog entry brought about a flood of re

Never mind

Submitted by DavidMeyer on Thu, 04/07/2005 - 01:00.

(comment withdrawn)

Getting centrists to sound more progressive

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 04/13/2005 - 10:59.

you ask, "How do we get centrists to think more progressively and use more progressive language?"

well, the first off, it might help if people who don't self-identify themselves as progressives understood what the term meant. i've looked over a lot of polling data, and i am not alone in finding the term ambiguous at best. i realize that "progressives" understand what they mean, but it is difficult to attract others "to think more progressively and use more progressive language" when you are the only ones (who knows what you mean).

btw, this is the first time i've viewed a blog (at least knowingly!)...

snowbored

Welcome

Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 04/14/2005 - 06:35.

snowbored, welcome to this blog. I'm glad you stopped by. I think your comments about people having a clearer understanding about what it means to be a progressive are very important. I think you've correctly identified some of the problem, that progressives can't even talk clearly about what it means to be a progressive, and that needs to change.

Nonetheless, I'm less concerned about titles then I am about underlying message. Right now, the neo-conservatives seem to be controlling the message, and too often, people in the center end up repeating a neo-conservative message as opposed to a progressive message. I think that may be the bigger problem.