WASHINGTON: To win or not to win: Campaigns can hang on a few words | National Elections | The Bellingham Herald

People were asked about Republican positions on volatile issues such as energy policies, student debt and school choice. The party then organized groups of specific constituencies _ unmarried women and bilingual speakers _ that it has had trouble wooing. And it tested ads.

The final result: “Create Your American Dream.”

“It embodied what a lot of the focus group participants were telling us _ that they wanted the opportunity to succeed and there was no single path to get there or one agreed metric of success,” said Kirsten Kukowski, Republican National Committee spokeswoman.

Democrats also are pushing to motivate unmarried women, who tend to vote heavily for their candidates.

Effective messaging reduces complex issue positions or candidates’ images to easy-to-remember, easy-to-like slogans or catchphrases. The trick is to keep the message positive while suggesting the other guy’s brand is inferior.

Republican strategist Frank Luntz helped promote this new kind of political language nearly 20 years ago. In his 2005 commentary, “The Lexicon of Political Clout,” he explained, “Admittedly, in these times, most political language has taken a partisan tone. But my suggestions are meant to help reach that crucial, nonaligned swing voter.”

Luntz helped popularize phrases such as “death tax,” instead of the more arcane, tilted-to-the-rich “estate tax.” After all, he reasoned, people pay income tax on income and sales tax on sales. Or “energy exploration,” a smoother way of discussing drilling for gas or oil.

“They work to the extent they tap into existing thoughts and feelings,” said Atlanta-based Republican political strategist Todd Rehm.

Key catchphrases this year have become “1 percent” for Democrats and “Obamacare” for the Republicans.

via WASHINGTON: To win or not to win: Campaigns can hang on a few words | National Elections | The Bellingham Herald.