Messaging Resources from the 2006 Annual Retreat

Don’t Think of an Elephant: Progressive Values and the Framing Wars a Progressive Guide to Action
by George Lakoff
George Lakoff, UC Berkeley cognitive linguist and author of Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think, has emerged as one of the leading progressive voices on the importance of language, the framing of political issues, and how to best define and communicate about values. Lakoff's ideas have influenced liberal and progressive leaders, such as Howard Dean, Barack Obama, and John Kerry, and he has appeared on television and radio programs, such as "Now" and "All Things Considered." To help progressives communicate their values, George Lakoff and Chelsea Green Publishing are taking on the challenge of getting out to all progressives a handbook for personally reaching out to ordinary Americans, and articulating a progressive vision for America.

God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It 
by Jim Wallis
God's Politics offers a clarion call to make both our religious communities and our government more accountable to key values of the prophetic religious tradition - that is, make them pro-justice, pro-peace, pro-environment, pro-equality, pro-consistent ethic of life (beyond single issue voting), and pro-family (without making scapegoats of single mothers or gays and lesbians). Our biblical faith and religious traditions simply do not allow us as a nation to continue to ignore the poor and marginalized, deny racial justice, tolerate the ravages of war, or turn away from the human rights of those made in the image of God. These are the values of love and justice, reconciliation, and community that Jesus taught and that are at the core of what many of us believe, Christian or not. In the tradition of prophets such as Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, and Desmond Tutu, Wallis inspires us to hold our political leaders and policies accountable by integrating our deepest moral convictions into our nation's public life.

Free-Range Thinking
by Andy Goodman
Free-Range Thinking™ is a monthly journal of communications best practices and resources for public interest groups, foundations, and progressive businesses that want to reach more people more effectively.

Below are two back issues of the journal that focus specifically on framing your message.

"Five Questions to Build Your Message." Vol 27, October 2001
A campaign that successfully promoted breastfeeding demonstrates how answering five questions can help any public interest group craft the most persuasive message.

"Coming Apart at the Theme." Vol 28, November 2001
Philip Morris' anti-smoking ads say, "Think. Don't Smoke." but that's not the message their teenage audience is hearing.

From Will Abberger and Trust for Public Land
Click here for a PDF of the report referenced in his presentation during the last panel discussion "Using Words to Affect the Political Process."