George Lakoff - The little blue book : how to think and talk Democratic

THE INDISPENSABLE

HANDBOOK FOR DEMOCRATS

V oters cast their ballots for what they believe is right, for the things that make moral sense. Yet Democrats have too often failed to use language linking their moral values with their policies. The Little Blue Book demonstrates how to make that connection clearly and forcefully, with hands-on advice for discussing the most pressing issues of our time: the economy, health care, womens issues, energy and environmental policy, education, food policy, and more. Dissecting the ways that extreme conservative positions have permeated political discourse, Lakoff and Wehling show how to fight back on moral grounds and in concrete terms. Revelatory, passionate, and deeply practical, The Little Blue Book will forever alter the way Democrats and progressives think and talk about politics .

Republicans offer values. Democrats offer policies. Guess what? Values often win, even when the policies are more popular. Its about time Democrats learned how to talk (and think) in terms of the underlying values that make them Democratsvalues that are more widely shared by Americans than the values Republicans espouse. Heres the essential handbook for thinking and talking Democraticmust reading not only for every Democrat but for every responsible citizen.

ROBERT B. REICH , Chancellors Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, and author of Beyond Outrage

This book is a game changer, one that will enable Democrats to regain their language and to stop mimicking Republican ideas and rhetoric.

DIANE RAVITCH , author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System

GEORGE LAKOFF is Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Dont Think of an Elephant! , among other works, and is Americas leading expert on the framing of political ideas.

ELISABETH WEHLING is a political strategist and author working in the United States and Europe. She is doing research in linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, on how politics is understood both in America and Europe.

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Praise for The Little Blue Book

This book is a game changer, one that will enable Democrats to regain their language and to stop mimicking Republican ideas and rhetoric.

Diane Ravitch, author of The Death and Life
of the Great American School System: How Testing
and Choice Are Undermining Education

Republicans offer values. Democrats offer policies. Guess what? Values often win, even when the policies are more popular. Its about time Democrats learned how to talk (and think) in terms of the underlying values that make them Democratsvalues that are more widely shared by Americans than the values Republicans espouse. Heres the essential handbook for thinking and talking Democraticmust reading not only for every Democrat but for every responsible citizen.

Robert B. Reich, Chancellors Professor
of Public Policy, University of California,
Berkeley, and author of Beyond Outrage

George Lakoff is the progressive movements Jedi master of language. The Little Blue Book tells us how to say what we need to say to bring about the policy changes Americans need.

Van Jones, author of Rebuild the Dream

Ive always learned a lot from Lakoff, and you will too.

George Soros

If you only preach to the choir, youve no need for The Little Blue Book . But if you want to reach people you dont agree with, read this book!

Joan Blades, founder of Moveon.org

George Lakoffs willingness to share his unmatched understanding of the way language impacts politics is a precious gift to his fellow progressives. In this election year, The Little Blue Book is a must-read.

Bob Edgar, president, Common Cause

Blending insight and rigor, Lakoff and Wehling have produced a Rosetta Stone that translates progressive ideas into fundamental human values that will resonate with Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs.

Michael Brune, executive director, Sierra Club

With The Little Blue Book , Lakoff and Wehling are giving Democrats and progressives a giftthe tools to inspire Americans by using the moral language of our Democratic values of caring for each other and building and protecting our community. Our leaders, Obama included, must stop falling into right-wing traps and repeating their language and frames. Our vision is far better than the right wings. Use this book and learn from Lakoff and Wehling how we can best communicate for a future we all deserve and need.

Don Hazen, executive editor, AlterNet.org

The Little Blue Book gives progressives not just invaluable tools but, more important, an infusion of the hope desperately needed to fix our broken politics. By mapping the political brain, Lakoff and Wehling have shown Democrats the surest way to find their spines.

Ken Cook, president, Environmental Working Group

ALSO BY GEORGE LAKOFF

Dont Think of an Elephant!

Know Your Values and Frame the Debate

The Political Mind: A Cognitive Scientists Guide

to Your Brain and Its Politics

Moral Politics:

How Liberals and Conservatives Think

Metaphors We Live By

Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind

and Its Challenge to Western Thought

Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things:

What Categories Reveal About the Mind

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Copyright 2012 by George Lakoff and Elisabeth Wehling

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Free Press Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Free Press trade paperback edition June 2012

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