When we call everything an 'ism,' we stop hearing what voters actually care about
Fox News
Political name-calling like 'socialist' labels for AOC and Bernie Sanders fails to persuade voters focused on economic fairness and opportunity in American politics.
Lee Hartley Carter is president of Maslansky + Partners, a language strategist, researcher and author of "Persuasion: Convincing Others When Facts Don't Seem to Matter" (TarcherPerigee, September 3, 2019). Follow her on X on @lh_carter.
But when we label something an -ism, we often fail to see what’s actually resonating. Because underneath the slogans and self-descriptions, the other side is winning on the issues that matter most to people’s daily lives: the economy, fairness, opportunity, affordability.
The echo chamber of righteousness
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