IdeaLog
Drowning the American Dream
Posted on September 26, 2018
Successful politics is a matter of persuading Americans that “we” are on their side. That can’t be done if “we” assert facts that contradict the realities of their daily lives. For most persuadable Americans,...
The Importance of Non-Verbal Persuasion
Posted on September 11, 2018
How do you spend most of your time when preparing to give a speech? If you are like most advocates and policymakers we’ve worked with, your answer is content or the words. You might even think the...
The Subminimum Wage for Tipped Workers is a Scam
Posted on August 29, 2018
Everyone is familiar with the minimum wage, and most policy advocates understand that there exists a much lower minimum wage for tipped employees. Normally, policymakers consider the issue from the viewpoint of the tipped...
Five logical fallacies often used in political and policy debate
Posted on August 15, 2018
Progressives have gotten so used to hearing bald-faced political lies that perhaps we have become a little less ready to recognize rhetorical tricks. Let us consider five of the most common informal logical fallacies—arguments...
Call yourself a progressive
Posted on July 27, 2018
From blue states, we often hear the question, “Is it better to call yourself a liberal or a progressive?” From red states we’re asked, “Is it bad politics to call yourself a progressive when...
The media is bungling the facts about immigration
Posted on July 18, 2018
The media is doing a particularly lousy job of covering the Trump Administration’s persecution of non-white immigrants. Although there are plenty of well-researched stories about the horrors of “zero tolerance,” family separation and imprisoning...
Supreme Court will likely put legislators in charge of abortion rights
Posted on July 4, 2018
While our abortion rights allies try to make the best of the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation battle, we must prepare for the likelihood that the nominee will be confirmed and that Roe v. Wade...
Both race and class are essential in a progressive narrative
Posted on June 20, 2018
If there is one certainty about the 2018 General Elections, it’s that the debate will be ugly. Donald Trump will be a central issue, whether or not local candidates want that. There will be...
Fake news versus real news
Posted on June 6, 2018
A democracy cannot function when truth is irrelevant to political debate, when facts are manufactured at will, when voter persuasion is no more elevated than a schoolyard shouting match. But we’ve sunk that low....
Debate proactively!
Posted on May 24, 2018
Over the past twenty years, conservatives have generally trounced progressives at the game of message framing. The right wing identifies specific political goals and then its spokespeople conscientiously repeat poll-tested language—over and over—to shape...