IdeaLog
Speak more simply!
Posted on January 28, 2019
This is not going to surprise you, but Donald Trump speaks like a fourth-grader. This was confirmed by the data site Factba.se using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level metric. Specifically, the past fifteen U.S. Presidents...
Ten of our newest model bills
Posted on January 16, 2019
We’ve just published our latest edition of the Progressive Agenda for States and Localities. You can read it in HTML text, download a PDF, or we’ll be happy to mail you a printed copy. Here...
Ten popular measures for 2019
Posted on January 2, 2019
Progressives should decide where they stand on issues based on values, not on polls. At the same time, it is smart politics to lift up our more popular issues. The most important thing is...
How to argue over the Christmas or Kwanzaa table
Posted on December 18, 2018
Here are three more examples of how to argue the progressive position on issues based on the basic rules of persuasion described in our book, Voicing Our Values. Those rules are: (1) Begin in...
How to argue over the Chanukah table
Posted on December 5, 2018
In the same spirit as our last blog, here are three more examples of how to argue progressive positions using the basic rules of persuasion described in our book, Voicing Our Values. Those rules...
How to argue over the Thanksgiving table
Posted on November 20, 2018
Now that America is more politically polarized than ever, you may be dreading Thanksgiving. Your loud-mouthed right-wing Uncle Mort insists on debating politics and you expect he’ll be more confrontational than ever. There is...
Cities can and must lead progressive policy
Posted on November 6, 2018
This is written from the National League of Cities annual Summit, this year at the Los Angeles Convention Center. If you’re in L.A., please come visit us in the Exhibition Hall, booth number 530....
How to persuade with questions
Posted on October 24, 2018
Persuasion is hard. And yet, it’s the whole point of politics. If we argue, whine or rant but never persuade, we have accomplished nothing. People are tough to persuade because cognitive biases skew human...
Drowning the American Dream, Part 2
Posted on October 9, 2018
Our last blog argued that America’s rich and powerful have rigged the economic system over the past 40 years. As a result, average citizens have gotten nowhere while the top five-to-ten percent have taken...
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,...