2008 Election
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, 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 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 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…
nisbetmc | September 3, 2008
Psychology buffs are probably familiar with the Implicit Association Test. In laboratory experiments testing for racial prejudice, subjects are timed in their matching of positive and negative words with either white or black faces. In these tests, whites overwhelmingly react more positively to whites and more negatively towards blacks (take the test here).
The reason is that many whites lack personal "real world" experience with blacks and instead much of their perception of blacks is colored by unfair media portrayals (see this report I authored last year.) The torrent of media images of…
nisbetmc | September 2, 2008That's the take in this recent profile at New York magazine. The far left blogosphere first stung Lieberman when his 2004 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination fell flat but then really turned him towards the GOP following his 2006 Senate primary race. In Lieberman's view, powerful bloggers have hijacked his party, especially on foreign policy. From the article:
The 2004 debacle was Lieberman's first introduction to a new force, the netroots, a loose collection of leftist blogs including MoveOn.org and DailyKos. The way the senator sees it, those groups have been "taking the party in…
nisbetmc | September 2, 2008When I first heard that McCain had chosen Sarah Palin to be his running partner, I expected there to be a revolt from the intellectual wing of the GOP party, the same thinkers who rebelled against Bush's choice of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court. Yet as it turns out people like David Brooks and George Will have both lined up behind the Palin pick.
The only voices of dissent from Republican commentators I have been able to turn up are from David Frum and David Gergen. In a column at Canada's The National Post, Frum calls the choice "irresponsible" and concludes: "If anything were to happen…
nisbetmc | September 2, 2008Palin has put support for creationism among GOP leaders on the media and public agenda. Everywhere in the news, GOP officials are being asked their position on the matter and in their replies they are sending the strongest of signals to a partisan public that support for creationism is part of the GOP DNA.
From a Washington Post article on how Palin is energizing the Evangelical base, Cathie Adams, the Texas GOP national committeewoman describes why she thinks Palin is so exciting:
Cathie Adams, Texas's incoming national committeewoman, said she is elated to have someone like herself running…
nisbetmc | September 2, 2008
The McCain choice of Sarah Palin has made creationism a topic that various GOP spokespeople are now being asked by the press to weigh in on. From the interviews, an emerging talking point appears to be that "it's a local decision." On Sunday, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty was asked by Tom Brokaw about Palin's position and his personal views on the issue. Video above and transcript below.
MR. BROKAW: Okay. In the governor's race, she refused to be specific about her views on Creationism versus evolution. But, as I understand it, she did say that she thought that the two subjects should be…
nisbetmc | August 29, 2008From an interview this month with NewsMax:
What is your take on global warming and how is it affecting our country?
A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.