For conservatives, change is framed as a re-assertion of the past

by phil on Sunday May 9, 2010 1:49 PM
politics

When conservative politicians co-opt policy positions that they once rejected, they always frame it like this is the way things have always been. While as when liberals do it, they always frame it like it's something new and innovative they discovered. For example, when Mitt Romney campaigned in 2008 for what is essentially Obamacare, he framed it terms of "re-asserting choice in medicine and bringing back accountability," while as Obama framed it in terms of "modernizing health care and turning a new chapter." Conservatives then cast Obamacare as socialism, to make it seem like a deviation from a good America, while as Obama framed it as a struggle against entrenched interests, and therefore a deviation away from a bad America.