Lakoff's moral strength is a generally convincing metaphor of how conservatives think/communicate about lots of things. But, at the same time (and you have no idea how much it pains me to say this) the poli sci types are sort of right this time, the culture war is going to sleep for a while (not dead.)
Asleep because it can come back as the crisis eases. But asleep because during this crisis too many people are affected for the "moral strength + look down on those failures who are failing" frame that is conservatism to work right now. Let me propose that while there are "swing voters" there are also "swing feelers/metaphorists." 20% of the population at each end really believes right or left wing frames (as outlined reasonably by Lakoff) - the middle bit believe bits of both and what they believe at any moment in time is a combo of their past experiences and the current situation. What is grim for the Conservative Party right now is food and petrol have gone up noticeably. You can frame "moral strength" around turn the heating down, but the loose end of the Tory coalition gets irritable when their personal prosperity takes a hit - and it's taking a hit from a number of angles.
Meadway thinks the government can ride this out with a ton of borrowing, energy support and tax cuts - and he's probably right. Where I differ is I'm not sure the moral strength frame allows them to do it. The pandemic only allowed them to step beyond the frame in policy because it was a fundamentally extraordinary event.
As for the Connected frame - this reminds me of Henry Ford. I think it can work, but I suppose my structuralist view is that while more effective messages help, it's distribution of messages that defines the framing battle.
Lakoff's moral strength is a generally convincing metaphor of how conservatives think/communicate about lots of things. But, at the same time (and you have no idea how much it pains me to say this) the poli sci types are sort of right this time, the culture war is going to sleep for a while (not dead.)
Asleep because it can come back as the crisis eases. But asleep because during this crisis too many people are affected for the "moral strength + look down on those failures who are failing" frame that is conservatism to work right now. Let me propose that while there are "swing voters" there are also "swing feelers/metaphorists." 20% of the population at each end really believes right or left wing frames (as outlined reasonably by Lakoff) - the middle bit believe bits of both and what they believe at any moment in time is a combo of their past experiences and the current situation. What is grim for the Conservative Party right now is food and petrol have gone up noticeably. You can frame "moral strength" around turn the heating down, but the loose end of the Tory coalition gets irritable when their personal prosperity takes a hit - and it's taking a hit from a number of angles.
Meadway thinks the government can ride this out with a ton of borrowing, energy support and tax cuts - and he's probably right. Where I differ is I'm not sure the moral strength frame allows them to do it. The pandemic only allowed them to step beyond the frame in policy because it was a fundamentally extraordinary event.
As for the Connected frame - this reminds me of Henry Ford. I think it can work, but I suppose my structuralist view is that while more effective messages help, it's distribution of messages that defines the framing battle.