The Lost Democratic Narrative

Many of us, in the wake of our defeat last fall, have started talking about "framing" our issues. Most of us became familiar with the concept after reading George Lakoff's introduction to framing, Don't Think of an Elephant.

People who know me, and have heard me talking about framing, know that I don't particularly put a lot of stock in it. That's not to say that it's useless, because it certainly has its purpose; but framing alone won't get us to the promised land. Winning the battle for the hearts, souls, and minds of our friends isn't simply a matter of rejiggering words and phrases in a search for ringing rhetoric; it's a matter of appealing to the basic narrative of American history and politics.

I've always thought that most people think of politics (if they think of it all, in the course of their busy lives) in terms of a story. I was idly reading when I came across a new article in The New Republic by Robert Reich which discussed that very subject. It's a very-well written article, and if you want the complete piece, drop me a comment.

According to Reich, there are four basic stories which we use to describe our common story--two based on hope, two based on fear. They are:

The Triumphant Individual: Horatio Alger. Andrew Carnegie. Rocky. We all know this story. It's the tale of the woman who works hard, has unwavering self-confidence, takes the necessary risks, and winds up winning glory and wealth as a result. We all know the moral: work hard, and you'll be able to accomplish all your hopes and dreams.

The Benevolent Community: Think of farmers coming together for a barn-raising. Think of John Winthrop's "City on a Hill". Think Capra and Rockwell. This is the story of all the folks in a neighborhood coming together to help each other in a time of need, and together enjoying the fruits of their cooperation.

The Mob At The Gates: In this storyline, America stands alone as a beacon of righteousness in a world of darkness, constantly besieged by alien hordes threatening our way of life. This explains our constant striving against an infinite number of tyrannies. The bottom line: We must always be on guard, so as not to be overwhelmed by barbarism.

The Rot at the Top: Here we come face to face with a litany of corruption, lies, decadence and irresponsibility among the powerful elites of our society--a vile and evil conspiracy against good, hard-working Americans. You can trace this story all the way back to King George III and the American Revolution.

So why are these particular stories so important?

Because if you can speak in terms of these four stories, you control the way we talk about politics. Americans don't think in terms of isolated issues. They don't think of jobs, or health care, or Iraq. Americans understand issues in terms of the larger context of where we've been as a country, what we're up against, and where we're going.

Over the last three decades, we've lost sight of that. I challenge any Democrat to tell me--right now--where we've been, what we're up against, and where we're going, without using at least one of the above storylines.

And as we've lost sight of the story, Republicans have become frightfully brilliant at telling it.

Who's the Triumphant Individual? Usually, a businessman, preferably an entrepreneur making six figures.

What's the Benevolent Community? A collection of small towns, where the folks helped one another out because of self-interest, and where government doesn't dare tread.

Who's the Mob at the Gates? At first, it was the Evil Empire of the USSR; now, it's the terrorists, specifically, al-Qaeda.

What's the Rot at the Top? It's the tentacles of a Big Government which stifles initiative and creativity.

Notice how all the stories favor a Republican outlook. Can you think of a single Democratic leader in the last thirty years who managed to put a Democratic outlook on these stories? I can't.

And until we figure out a way to do so, all the frames in the world won't help us win the argument. We might as well shout into the hurricane, for all the good it will do us.