A shout out to Hugh Jim Bissell at Daily Kos for inspiring this framing primer. Hugh tells us:

I want to know how to use this reframing ideas in my conversations.  So say I am having a conversation with my conservative neighbor.  How do I use reframing to respond to these familiar conservative gambits:

1)  "There is no such thing as global warming.  Liberal scientists and universities are simply trying to scare us to suck more money out of the tax-payers."

2) "Obama is flushing democracy down the toilet.  He is owned by the insurance and financial industries."

3) "The 2nd amendment gives me the right to own any gun I choose in whatever number I want.  I need to protect myself because the police only care about black people."

4) "Obama is using the government to spy on us.  He is against our freedoms and liberties."

Great question, Hugh! First, you have to recognize that you will never get everyone to agree with you. Never. So there is no "right" answer that will get certain people to go, "Oh yeah, DUH! Thanks for clearing that up." The far right conservative is so married to their opinion that no matter what frame you give them, they will twist it to fit into their own world view. For instance ...

1)  "There is no such thing as global warming.  Liberal scientists and universities are simply trying to scare us to suck more money out of the tax-payers."

This person doesn't want to understand what's happening to the world around them, they just want to defend their already-firmly-established position.

However, the wrong answer is to come back with facts and figures, which will only be dismissed. The right answer is to have a set moral frame that you just keep repeating over and over and over no matter what they fling at you about the topic.

"Renewable energy technology provides jobs and new sources of revenue that benefit all Americans. Innovations in this field are bringing prosperity to our nation, allowing us to compete on a global scale. There's no excuse for allowing China to out-perform us in this arena and leave us in their dust. Manufacturing our own clean, "home-grown," Made-in-America energy sources that will never run out protects our country, providing us safety and security against foreign countries who are either controlling the dirty, old-fashioned technology of the past or beating us to the market with new technology. Protecting America's future for generations to come should be our most important priority."

@WinningWordsPro
Winning Words We need our own clean, "home-grown," Made-in-America energy sources that'll never run out. Don't let China out-perform us in green tech too!
Aug 19 via web Favorite Retweet Reply

@WinningWordsPro
Winning Words We shld be protecting America's future & creating jobs w/our own "home-grown," Made-in-America clean energy sources that will never run out
Aug 19 via web Favorite Retweet Reply

And here's how we'd answer the rest of these ...

2) "Obama is flushing democracy down the toilet.  He is owned by the insurance and financial industries."

"Our democracy was built with the wisdom of our Founding Fathers who established this country for the common good, not that of corporations or the wealthy few. It was outrage over corporate control and influence over government that inspired the Boston Tea Party revolt. We need to stay as outraged as our forefathers were about the dangerous influence of monied interests that the right-leaning Supreme Court opened the floodgates for with Citizens United. Defending democracy means standing up for all citizens' voices to be heard, not drowning them out by billionaires who are buying favor with Mitt Romney, and not by finding ways to silence your opponents at the ballot box with unnecessary voter I.D. laws that only serves to disenfranchise citizens."

@WinningWordsPro
Winning Words Defending democracy means standing up for all citizens' voices, not drowning them out by billionaires who are buying favor w/Mitt Romney
Aug 19 via web Favorite Retweet Reply

3) "The 2nd amendment gives me the right to own any gun I choose in whatever number I want.  I need to protect myself because the police only care about black people.

"Your 2nd Amendment rights are as solid as they've ever been, and will remain that way. Everyone benefits from reasonable gun responsibility laws that protect us from going back to the days when outlaws ruled the towns and gun battles in the streets were the way disputes were resolved."

Everyone benefits from reasonable #GunResponsibility laws. Let's not go back to days when disputes were settled w/gun battles in the streets

— Winning Words (@WinningWordsPro) August 19, 2012

Stop saying "gun control" and start saying "gun responsibility." No one likes being controlled, but everyone agrees we should be responsible

— Winning Words (@WinningWordsPro) August 19, 2012

4) "Obama is using the government to spy on us.  He is against our freedoms and liberties."

"Freedom and liberty are among the guiding principles of the Democratic party; principles established by our Founding Fathers that made the general welfare of the nation and its people the number one priority of government. We stand behind those principles and continue to fight for your freedom, opportunity, and security every single day."

Protecting Freedom, Opportunity & Security for all are the guiding principles of the Democratic Party & Progressives. Join us moving forward

— Winning Words (@WinningWordsPro) August 19, 2012

We're thrilled that Hugh and the rest of you reading have taken an interest in how to respond to the arguments put forth by the right wing zealots and hope these sample replies have been helpful to you. Please continue asking questions and telling us what you need help re-framing and we'll share our suggestions here.

Now learn the Five Words and Phrases Democrats and Progressives Should Never Say Again (and what to replace them with) »