Does the name George Lakoff ring a bell?
Does the concept of framing a debate in political discourse remind you of something?
If your answer is Yes, step this way and consider
the article I quote below.
If your answer is No, then step that way and join
Britain’s PM Theresa May, who does not seem to have a firm grasp on the rough
and tumble of actual politicking, and who might be out of a job this coming
Thursday.
As for framing, the Labour Partie, led by an inept
bumbler with extreme left wing views, grabbed hold of a mistake May made and
came up with the deadly phrase dementia tax to describe one of her
new policies.
And the dementia tax framing forced her to
back off that new policy, and helped the opinion polls in their tumble, as
this take shows:
Their campaign has been waylaid by other issues in its manifesto, chief among them the contentious proposal to change the way in which social care is funded.May’s intention, announced as part of a manifesto launch which promised to focus on “true Conservatism”, was to roll out a system which would raise the cost of care threshold to £100,000, but include the value of someone’s home in the calculation of their assets for home, as well as residential care.UK government sources suggested that the combination of the new approach, coupled with the plan to means-test winter fuel payments, could save a total of around £2bn. However, the England-only policy, swiftly dubbed the “dementia tax”, was widely derided.The strength of public opposition is evident when contrasting the results of two similar poll questions, taken before and after the announcement. One, conducted between 12 and 14 May, asked voters to choose the leader they trusted most when it comes to “protecting the interests of pensioners”. The Tory leader edged out Corbyn by 29 per cent to 28 per cent.Yet a similar question asked of voters between 24 and 26 May – namely, who they trusted to “look after the future of our pensioners” – saw the Labour leader soar in front with 41 per cent to May’s 24 per cent.“The social care issue is part of a wider narrative,” suggests Curtice. “People are thinking, ‘Hang on. This is someone who isn’t necessarily as surefooted as we might think’.”
Now May’s majority is in doubt; the nationalist
party in Scotland, which will hold the balance of votes in a hung parliament
have said they will support Labour rather than the Tories, and we might well
see a BC-type of replacement government turf out the Tories, and throw the
whole Brexit initiative into doubt.
And remember one thing: if May’s government is shy
votes equal to or less than the number of seats that the Lib-Dems win on
Thursday, then the Lib-Dems will hold the balance of power in the House.
And they have campaigned on outright rejection of
Brexit, and the need to hold a second referendum once the Brexit terms are
announced. Voters would be asked a simple question: Here are the Brexit terms.
Do you want them to apply, or do you want to stay in the EU on the old terms?
Better buy lots of popcorn for the June 8 vote!
You are gonna need it!
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