Moderate Framing for Successful Change

Framing is Crucial

Framing is the process of setting the context of the discussion of a political issue. Effective framing determines the way that voters see an issue. For example, do we call Medicare for All an extension of an existing program? Do we call it a socialist invasion of private healthcare? Do we call it a revolutionary expansion of social justice in the United States? How do we want voters to think about it?  A political proposal can succeed if it is framed in a way that draws political support, or it can fail because it is framed in a way that alienates voters.

Democratic Socialists Need Help With Framing

Last week, I said that the Democratic Socialists have good ideas that need to be reframed as the moderate proposals that they really are. The Democratic Socialists present their ideas as revolutionary improvements in our society, but in fact, their ideas are far from radical. They are well within the main stream of American politics, and they include nothing that poses the slightest danger to our capitalist system. However, the Democratic Socialists' ideas need to be reframed to make their moderate character obvious to everyone. Republicans have already begun to characterize the proposals as dangerous communistic ideas. If Democrats allow that framing to dominate the discussion, their proposals will fail for lack of support from voters and politicians. A moderate framing might just give Democratic Socialists' proposals a chance to win. What would such a framing look like?

The American People Are Not Looking For a Revolution

We Americans are not a revolutionary people. Most of us believe - rightly or wrongly - that we live in a fine country with good institutions that offer all of us opportunities to get ahead. Even our labor movement has never been revolutionary. The movement has focused on obtaining higher wages and better working conditions in the workplace, and it has avoided becoming the base of a political movement. We have never had a labor party. We recognize that our country has problems, and we understand the need to solve them, but we don’t see our problems as symptoms of a system that is fundamentally flawed and needs to be replaced.

It is true that a sizable part of the electorate has lost faith in our system. Many believe that the system is rigged against them and that both parties are dominated by money and by corruption. Such people form the base of the MAGA movement on the right and of politicians like Graham Platner or Zohran Mamdani on the left. However, those alienated voters are not the people who need to be persuaded. The ones on the left are already prepared to support policies to make our country more equitable, while the ones on the right can probably not be persuaded to support such policies under any conditions. The voters who might be persuaded by a moderate framing are the people in the middle who still believe in our system.

Those of us who wish to promote change to solve our obvious problems must work within this political culture if we wish to be successful. That means that we must frame our proposals in a way that appeals to the fundamental, political attitude of the majority of Americans. How can we do that?

Use a Narrow Problem-Solving Approach

One element of moderate framing is a narrow, problem-solving approach that avoids fundamental criticism of our society and economy.  This approach says that, while our economy and society are fundamentally just and sound, a problem has arisen that we need to solve. For example, many of us know that Americans pay more for healthcare than the people of any other industrial country in the world. We know, too, that our system produces mediocre health outcomes at best. We can say that this problem has come about because greedy people have taken advantage of our open economy to build healthcare system that brings them enormous profits at the expense of the rest of us. For the benefit of all of us, we need modify the system so that it provides better care at a cost that we can afford.

Propose No Major Break With Our Existing System

A second element of moderate framing is to emphasize the fact that our solution does not represent a major break with our existing system. We need to argue that the solution we are proposing is really an extension of the system that we already have. Medicare for All is such an extension. Our existing Medicare program is one of our most successful programs. It provides affordable healthcare to millions of senior citizens. All we are proposing is to extend it to cover the rest of us. Why should seniors be the only people with affordable healthcare? Why shouldn’t all of us have it? No major change to the system is needed. We just need to extend it to cover us all.

Emphasize Reducing Cost and Putting Money in People's Pockets

A third element of moderate framing is to show that our solution would save money for American businesses and put more money in everyone's pocket. Americans are stressed economically, and we can address their suffering by pointing out how our proposal would put money in their pockets. In the case of Medicare for All, our case could begin with the idea that the taxes they would have to pay would be less than the health insurance premiums that they are now paying. As a result, people would have more money to spend on other things. In addition, Medicare for All would relieve businesses of the cost of health insurance. That would allow the businesses to raise salaries and also to hire more workers.

This argument is particularly important for persuading so-called "centrist" Democrats. Today's Democratic Party is not a working-class party. It is the party of the patrimonial middle class, and the members of that class do not need Medicare for All because they already have decent health insurance. In order to get get Congress to pass Medicare for All, it's supporters will have to persuade the centrist Democrats as well as some Republicans that Medicare for All would benefit everyone and not just people who lack health insurance today.

Make a Moral Case Based on Traditional American Values

A final element of moderate framing involves showing that the moral case for our proposal comes from traditional, American values. James Talarico’s campaign website provides one way of doing that, but it is not the only possibility. His approach is religious, but one possible secular approach would be to emphasize traditional, American ideas of fairness. A system that was designed to make money for its designers while squeezing the rest of us financially is fundamentally unfair. It is not consistent with our idea of fairness. A system that provides affordable care for some people but not for others is incompatible with American values.

Say it Over and Over

The key to successful framing is to repeat it over and over and over. We can't just make our point and assume that people will get the idea. We have to repeat our point over and over. We have to say it in different ways every day. We have to use TV ads, blog posts, Instagram posts, FB posts, newspaper articles and magazine articles. We have to repeat our point so often that it becomes part of the accepted view of the topic. Republicans are very good at this. Democrats have to learn.

Let's get busy!