There's a lot of buzz in the lefty blogosphere about the new book by linguist George Lakoff. I've been a big fan of Lakoff for about a year. I first heard Lakoff on Oregon Public Broadcasting radio while in my car. He was giving a commentary on the effective uses of political language by the Republicans. While listening to him I felt that someone had turned on a light switch in me. What he said made so much sense!

Lakoff talked about how Republicans "frame the debate". He talked about how Republicans tie certain words together, automatically putting the other side completely on the defensive. These words are set up in such a way as to pound on the other side..taking away from the actual meat of an issue...to point out some essentially meaningless thing...and distract the other side. He discussed how they stay on message with these words and phrases, and they stay disciplined with it...even in the face of being proven factually wrong time and again. He also discussed the how the Republican Party and conservative movements constantly work together with their media outlets.

Last week, Erasmus over at Centerfield talked about Lakoff. Today Kos has an extended look at Lakoff and his new book Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives.

Howard Dean took advice from Lakoff and was able to effectively inject language into the debate that set the Republicans on their heels and gave Democrats and progressives the voice they were longing for. Lakoff's understanding of language and it's effective use is potentially key to the Democrats finding their voice as a whole. Kerry should have this guy on his speech writing team and helping him prepare for the debates.