Word games: George Lakoff, the Democrats' hottest new thinker, misses the meaning behind the message

Washington Monthly, Jan-Feb, 2005 by Kenneth S. Baer

No matter how much Lakoff and the left want to reject and misrepresent what Clinton and the New Democrats accomplished, its power is evident in Don't Think of an Elephant. At the end of his book, Lakoff unwittingly embraces the New Democratic public philosophy, offering a "10-word breakdown" of what progressives believe that could have come from the lips of Al From: "Stronger America, Broad Prosperity, Better Future, Effective Government, Mutual Responsibility." It's a shame that Lakoff is too preoccupied with justifying his own political biases to get the facts right, since his central argument--that a poll-driven, issues-based strategy is a non-starter--is valid and strong.

Therein lies the missed opportunity of this book. Throughout his essays, Lakoff offers up tidbits of useful advice to Democrats, from thinking strategically to warning that progressives need to explain to voters the values that inform their stances, not just the programs they promote.

Democrats need to hear this. Since the end of the Clinton administration, the party has reverted back to a politics of materialism in which it promises an assortment of constituencies whatever it is they want in order to build a coalition. This may work in a congressional or even gubernatorial race, but it does not work for national offices--such as for senator and president--where larger, symbolic issues of what America stands for and what it should become are at stake. This strategy defeats itself since it ultimately undermines the overall Democratic "brand," rendering the party label meaningless and the party's purpose obtuse. More than that, when a new issue arises--such as terrorism--it leaves the party without the intellectual framework to craft a compelling response.

Democrats looking for answers won't find them in the recycled New Left ideas printed, fittingly, on the chlorine-free recycled paper of Don't Think of an Elephant. Rather, Lakoff's book should serve as a wake-up call for Democrats to offer a vision that not only competes with the conservative one but is also positive, powerful, and appealing to Americans across the country--no matter if they are daddy's little girls or momma's boys.

Kenneth S. Baer, the author of Reinventing Democrats: The Politics of Liberalism from Reagan to Clinton (University Press of Kansas), is a former White House speechwriter and founder of Baer Communications.