Modeling Journey

Harper has struck back, playing the only card which he can. He has tried, and is so far succeeding, to frame the issue as one of unity. He is trying to demonize the Coalition by claiming that the Bloc is the ‘devil’, and that the Liberals and NDP do not have the right to form a coalition supported by the devil.

Remember Lakoff’s Don’t Think of an Elephant? He brilliantly describes how it is fatal to debate an issue using the framing of your opponent. If you do so, and deny that it is true, then what sticks in people’s mind is the framing, not your denial.

So denying that the Accord is a pact with a devil simply plays into the hands of Harper by arguing with his framing.

What Messrs Layton and Dion and their senior MPs should be doing is yanking the discussion back to the framing that assists them: the Coalition government was formed to help Canadians survive the shocks to the economy which the recession is going to inflict.

The Coalition should go back to defending the need to stimulate the economy, and to protect ordinary Canadians from the fallout. This recession is going to be a bad one; every day we learn more about how deeply it is striking the economies of the USA, Europe and the far Eastern countries.

The Coalition should talk about what they are going to do – as outlined in my earlier post.

And they should regain control of the daily news cycle, announcing positive steps each and every day which gain traction, and focus Canadian’s views on the issue: the economy.