nisbetmc | September 12, 2008Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin might dispute the human contribution to climate change, oppose embryonic stem cell research, and promote creationism, but in other ways she has been an advocate for science. As I wrote last week, while on a few issues bi-partisan support for science breaks down, on other issues, including financing for scientific research, many Republicans are leading advocates.
Palin, for example, as Governor championed several earmarks requests to fund environmental research in her state. From the Politico:
Many others, though, are of exactly the sort that McCain has made a…
nisbetmc | September 12, 2008From the Associated Press:
On Friday, a McCain radio ad attempted to present McCain and Palin as a unified force behind stem cell research. In fact, McCain supports relaxing federal restrictions on financing of embryonic stem cell research, a position opposed by abortion opponents. Palin opposes embryonic stem cell research.
The ad, however, does not mention the word embryonic, making it correct on its face. Supporters and critics of using stem cells from embryos do support research using adult stem cells to help conquer some diseases.
This type of advertising sleight of hand works because,…
nisbetmc | September 12, 2008
A lot of people are talking and blogging about Matt Damon's comments on the Sarah Palin choice for vice president (above). But here is the problem:
It's the right frame and message on Palin but Damon is the wrong messenger. When Hollywood celebrities speak out on the election it energizes some young people and the liberal base, but Damon's comments are immediately undercut as just the latest "Hollywood elitist" savaging middle American values. In short, his comments help feed the narrative that McCain is using against Obama.
It's even more of a self-inflicted wound when you get comments…
nisbetmc | September 12, 2008
E-Magazine has a feature out on the (non)-role of science issues in this year's presidential race as well as the failed attempts at a Science Debate. I'm quoted in the article, as is my friend Chris Mooney, and other experts such as Harvard's Sheila Jasanoff.
Of note are these plans and comments from Obama's science staffer:
Democratic nominee Barack Obama often cites the role of science and technological innovation in driving the U.S. economy. Jason Grumet, Obama's climate change advisor, told E, "Senator Obama believes that there is a fundamental need for transparency in government. He…
nisbetmc | September 12, 2008
About 3% of Americans identify as Pentecostals meaning that probably few members of the public have an idea of what VP nominee Sarah Palin's religious tradition might teach or what she might believe. As a resource, Pew has released a comprehensive backgrounder on the beliefs, practices, issue positions, and partisanship of the sect. Of note, while Pentecostals tend to be on the extreme right when it comes to social issues, they are more liberal than other Evangelicals generally when it comes to the role of government.
nisbetmc | September 12, 2008
As I wrote last month, one key advertising strategy for the Obama campaign is to use aspects of McCain's background along with his media gaffes to paint the Republican nominee as out of touch with the economy and with average Americans. As I wrote, it's a strategy that worked effectively for the Clinton campaign in 1992, an angle that was fueled by George H.W. Bush's repeated missteps, notably the moment when on a campaign stop at a supermarket the former President appeared to have never seen a check out scanner before.
Now in a new ad released today (above), the Obama campaign uses McCain's…
nisbetmc | September 11, 2008Two essays I wrote on Expelled are now in print and I have placed PDFs of the articles online. The first shorter essay appears at Skeptical Inquirer magazine and reviews the impact of the film at the state level, as it has shaped local news coverage and the legislative agenda. I conclude that as a strategic communication campaign, the film's impact has been greatly underestimated.
The second longer essay appears at the Kean Review, a new arts and ideas journal sold at Barnes & Noble and other larger bookstores. In this essay I review the impact of the film but also anchor Expelled in the…
nisbetmc | September 11, 2008
A few things are interesting about this clip showing a focus group run by Frank Luntz with Minnesota voters on behalf of the AARP. First, when Luntz asks the participants to name the first things that come to mind about Palin, you notice that no one mentions issues or her stand on them whether it is climate change, abortion, stem cell research, taxes etc.
Instead, with the miserly public, the first thing that comes to mind are aspects of her personal narrative and identity. Moreover, the metaphors and frame devices that have dominated the campaign to date are applied to Palin to make sense…
nisbetmc | September 11, 2008Following up on her testimony before Congress yesterday, MIT President Susan Hockfield writes in the Washington Post today that the U.S. needs a Manhattan Project-scale investment in renewable energy R&D.
Drawing on the metaphor of Vannevar Bush's pact between government and science, Hockfield describes that part of the problem is the absence of serious R&D investment from the major energy companies, despite what they might tell us in TV advertisements:
Today, the United States is tangled in a triple knot: a shaky economy, battered by volatile energy prices; world politics weighed…
nisbetmc | September 10, 2008
How bad have things gotten when it comes to substantive coverage and discussion of the presidential election? Pew finds that at the end of August, just 2% of total news coverage focused on issues rather than the day-to-day strategies and conflicts between the two candidates (graph above).
Scholars have long recognized this trend in journalism towards a singular focus on the horse race to the exclusion of a substantive focus on the issues. In a forthcoming entry in the Encyclopedia of Survey Research I review this research and discuss its links to the growing over-abundance of daily tracking…
nisbetmc | September 10, 2008
Last month Pew released a comprehensive analysis of news audience trends over time and across demographics. One of the key findings (depicted at left) was the continued decline in public attention to news about science and technology, with only 13% of Americans saying they follow the topic "very closely."
News about the environment and health fair better, with roughly 1 out of 5 Americans answering that they follow these issues "very closely." Yet even for health, there has been a significant decline in news attention, dropping from 26% in 2002.
Far more troubling, however, is the massive…
nisbetmc | September 9, 2008
"Behold the power and glory of the scientific method!," quotes The Onion in a satirical spoof of science enthusiasts flocking to a wall stain of the image of Darwin (above.) The parody plays on the type of religious-like hero worship of Darwin and hardline atheist scientists that is common to some of the discussion threads here at ScienceBlogs.
As the Onion article hilariously describes of the sacred image:
Despite the enthusiasm the so-called "Darwin Smudge" has generated among the evolutionary faithful, disagreement remains as to its origin. Some believe the image is actually closer to…
nisbetmc | September 9, 2008
As the Sunday NY Times details, strategist Steve Schmidt has turned around the McCain campaign with brilliant advertising that sets the news agenda and primes voter evaluations. The former Rove deputy also was a key figure in the selection of Sarah Palin. His genius continues with the latest ad released yesterday, a focus on McCain and Palin as the "original mavericks."
In pitting McCain and Palin as reformers running against a Washington that their party controls, the strategy adds up to powerful subterfuge and sleight of hand, a message forcefield that the Obama team has yet to crack. As…
nisbetmc | September 7, 2008As I have written in various articles, when it comes to science debates, the public is far more likely to be miserly in reaching a judgment than fully informed. Most citizens are cognitive misers relying heavily on information short cuts and heuristics to make up their minds about a science controversy, often in the absence of knowledge.
As a result, in order to effectively engage the public, scientists and their organizations need to adapt their communication efforts to the realities of human nature and the media system. This means recasting, or "framing," their communication efforts in a…
nisbetmc | September 6, 2008That's the argument of Curtis Brainard at the Columbia Journalism Review. As he concludes:
Palin might not have the longest political track record to scrutinize, but the environment is clearly one area in which there is plenty of room to dig. It's time for the national media to take a cue from the Anchorage Daily News and explore the myriad ways in which Palin's environmental record might affect all manner of federal governance, from Bush's midnight regulations to McCain's less conservative, but potentially mutable, positions.
nisbetmc | September 5, 2008
As I've blogged before, research shows that The Daily Show is likely to cultivate cynicism among its younger audience while threatening to displace more traditional sources of news that might be better at providing context and understanding.
But there are moments when The Daily Show rises above just humor and cynicism and provides a strong dose of counter-framing, laying bare the spin and the subterfuge of various political elites. When picked up by the mainstream press and the blogosphere, the comedy program morphs into a form of public accountability journalism.
The clip above is a golden…
nisbetmc | September 5, 2008To say that Republicans are anti-science has always been an extreme over-simplification, the type of characterization that carries weight at liberal blogs but doesn't really match up well with political reality. The facts are that science has always enjoyed strong bi-partisan support. Only on a few issues such as stem cell research, climate change, and evolution has bi-partisan consensus broken down, and in these cases Republican positions have been far from uniform.
A leading example of the diversity of views about science among leading Republicans is reported on today in the New York Times…
nisbetmc | September 5, 2008From the latest Policy Alert of the American Association for the Advancement of Science:
Republican VP Pick Supports Teaching "Both Sides." Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain's choice for his running-mate, has expressed views on a number of issues of interest to scientists. In a televised debate during the Alaska governor's race in October 2006, Palin, in response to a question about teaching creationism in public schools, replied, "Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching…
nisbetmc | September 3, 2008In otherwise strong performances by Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin, I was struck by the sneering arrogance in their dismissal of community organizers and the rabid reaction of the GOP audience.
Weren't Jesus and Mother Teresa community organizers? Didn't they, in the words of Palin, have "actual responsibilities?" Aren't Evangelicals such as this group "Christians for Community Organizing" or this group "Evangelicals for Social Action" dedicated to community organizing? Aren't faith based initiatives built on community organizing?
Look for the Obama team to use the GOP's arrogant dismissal of…
nisbetmc | September 3, 2008George Lakoff weighs in with an assessment of what Sarah Palin can do for the McCain candidacy:
The initial response has been to try to keep the focus on external realities, the "issues," and differences on the issues. But the Palin nomination is not basically about external realities and what Democrats call "issues," but about the symbolic mechanisms of the political mind -- the worldviews, frames, metaphors, cultural narratives, and stereotypes. The Republicans can't win on realities. Her job is to speak the language of conservatism, activate the conservative view of the world, and use the…