One of the minor “fly-by” points that I heard during last night’s election coverage on MSNBC really stuck out to me as a smart idea, and I figured I’d post a diary, as it seemed to be a good idea that I hadn’t seen posted elsewhere.
The particular Democratic talking head—I can’t remember which one—was talking about how the Democrats should be framing messages heading into 2018. The point that resonated with me is (paraphrasing):
Democrats should reframe “gun control” as “gun safety,” as it sells much better with all Americans.
This seems to me to be a very intelligent solution to the difficulty of getting support. We know that vast proportions of Americans do support sensible gun regulations, but the NRA frames it as the first step on the slippery slope of “taking away your guns.” If Democrats reframe the issue to be a matter of “gun safety,” it becomes a lot harder to fight the issue.
It’s a simple change, but as we saw with “death panels,” framing can be ruthlessly effective.