How Republicans Attack

Deconstructing Republican message strategy

Republicans always choose their words with great strategic intent. Last week, the Republican Study Committee endorsed a statement and set of demands about the debt limit. A close look could reveal a great deal of their attack strategy and give us ideas for how to fight back.

Coming Soon: Framing and language in the State of the Union Address (and response)

Breaking Down the Language

The above photo is of the presentation at the Republican Study Committee lunch on February 1st, 2023, taken by “a source in the room.” I pulled out significant phrasing and language to see what it tells us about their thinking and their strategy. I also provide some ways we could negate their attacks and replace their frames.

As usual, Republicans attack government spending. We need to reframe this as investing in America and the American people.

Public opinion is changing when it comes to taxes and budgets, allowing us to change the agenda of “budget balancing” debates from cutting programs to making the super-rich pay their fair share.

In their debt ceiling demands, Republicans are trying to hide their real intentions under talk about “honor” and “obligations.” But really, they just dined out on tax breaks for the super-rich and now they want to skip out on the check. 

They say, “affordable American energy” to whitewash fossil fuel companies’ sky-high negatives. We can say that renewables are “cheaper and cleaner American energy,” because they are.

They are trying to shift attention from low unemployment to labor force participation rates, but we could turn the tables and use this to pressure them to invest in our priorities, like child and elder care.

Republicans are using culture war code language to open up a new front in the war on government. They say we’re a “socialist regime” using “woke bureaucracy” as a “weapon” against conservatives. We’re the American people, cooperating through government to protect each other, fight for economic fairness and hold people accountable for their actions.

Republicans also consistently use debate warfare tactics like projection, repetition and association.

Most of all, I want to emphasize how much work goes into developing the language they use, how much strategic thinking and coordination. This one sample is full of words and phrases that are loaded with meaning: effective triggers of whole narratives that they have been collectively pushing for years, even decades, or brand-new ones they are hammering into our minds every day. This is what we’re up against.

Investing in America

What they say about us:

"new spending, a record amount,” “their reckless spending has fueled an inflation crisis,” “excessive spending,” “wasteful spending,” “waste, fraud and abuse.”

Demonizing government spending has been Republicans’ first priority since they started calling us “tax and spend” liberals in the 1980s.

We have had some success reframing government spending as public investment. Rather than limiting ourselves to individual programs, we should promote the larger narrative that government spending is “investing in America,” that we buy bonds and pay taxes to invest in our fellow Americans and in our common future. This is rich ground for changing larger perceptions about government and the economy.

Here is an example of an unapologetically positive portrayal of government investment:

When people buy US Treasury Bonds, they are investing in America: the most reliable investment in the world. We take those funds and invest them in our children, in our elders, in our roads and bridges, in technological and medical advancement, in rural broadband, in clean air and water, in national defense, in safe food and safe travel, in people’s ability to buy homes and keep their businesses open, to go to college or get job training. We’re investing in the American people.

We don’t want to pull that investment back out of the economy. It’s out there doing good things in people’s lives! It’s busy building our future! People want to invest in America. As we said, it’s the best investment in the world.

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Taxes and Budgets

What they say they will do:

“pro-growth reforms,” “targeted, paid-for, pro-growth tax policies.”

Republicans appear to be backing away from the “tax cuts for job-creators” language they have used for decades, choosing instead to replace the word “cuts” with “reforms” and “policies.” They are also replacing “job creators” with the coded phrase “pro-growth.” I suspect they have seen research that shows that the term “tax cuts” is now associated with “for the rich” and anything “trickle-down” related isn’t polling well. They are also adding qualifiers like “targeted” and “paid for.” This all shows that they have moved into a defensive position.

They say:

“our national debt has doubled,” “Responsibility requires projecting a path that allows us to pay our bills without going further in debt.” “Establish a long-term fiscal control focused on reducing spending to restrain the growth of our federal debt as a percentage of the nation's economy.”

At least for now, “balancing the budget” is the yardstick against which federal budgets are measured.

Conservatives have been playing this game for decades. When in power, they slash taxes for the rich, gutting revenues. Later, they holler “debt crisis” and demand massive cuts in government programs. Overwhelming public support for raising taxes on the rich may allow us to finally break this cycle by raising revenues instead of slashing public investment. We can help by focusing budget balance debates on the loss of revenue caused by “corporations and the super-rich not paying their fair share.”

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Debt Ceiling Demands

“The American people deserve a stronger economy… and the promise of a federal government not mired in financial ruin. Legislation raising the debt limit is the most appropriate place to accomplish these goals.”

“ensure the federal government honors certain critical obligations, such as federal debt payments, national security and veterans, Social Security, and Medicare., “pay our bills.”

Seriously? They are threatening to NOT pay our bills so they can demand that we DO pay our bills? They validate our framing: that the United States of America needs to honor all of its obligations. Yes, Republicans, we absolutely should pay our bills. Now would be the right time to do that.

Say This:

Republicans in Congress are threatening to force the United States to default on our Treasury Bonds in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

This has nothing to do with future spending. This is about paying the debts we have already incurred. The fact is: Republicans have dined out on tax breaks for the super-rich and now they want to skip out on the check. 

Never before in our history have we defaulted on our obligations, because it would destroy our credibility as a country. It would crash our economy and take the rest of the world down with it. We can’t have the world saying that America can’t be trusted to pay its bills. It would be an indelible stain on our national honor.

For more on this approach, see: Framing the Debt Ceiling: The honor of America is at stake.

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Senate GOP on Instagram

Cheaper, Cleaner American Energy

What they say about us:

“all-out assault on affordable American energy,”

What they say they will do:

“affordable American energy,” “increase domestic energy capacity.”

Gas companies that pay no taxes on their record profits are not exactly popular right now, so Republicans are white-washing fossil fuels as “affordable American energy,” trying to evoke “energy independence” and lower prices. President Biden has done a great job of getting gas prices down, so this is not a strong point for them. Just remember to not repeat their language. Keep the focus on “crisis profiteering by corporate monopolies” and “cheaper and cleaner American energy.”

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Jobs and Labor Force Participation

What they say about us:

“Their policies have killed labor force participation,”

Now that unemployment is reaching record lows, Republicans are trying to change the subject. They are pivoting to attacking low labor force participation rates, which are rising but have not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

The House Ways and Means Committee is holding hearings on “The State of the American Economy,” starting with Appalachia. Their goal is to re-set the agenda, elevate the issue of workforce participation in the public debate, and convince voters that Republicans are on the side of out-of-work people. Unfortunately, from the description, it sounds like they are setting up these hearings to argue for cutting taxes on businesses and eroding workers’ rights.

If you can’t beat them, co-opt them.

Say This:

Our economy needs workers. We agree with Republicans 100% that we have to get more people to return to the workforce. We will attend these hearings and listen to people about what is really keeping them from coming back. Is it lack of affordable child care or care for their aging parents? Health problems? Unpredictable scheduling? Low pay? Lack of family leave? Lack of transportation? Access to the Internet? We will hold Republicans to their word and expect them to pass bipartisan legislation addressing people’s real barriers to employment.

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The Demonization of Government

What they say about us:

“Their reckless spending… has weaponized a woke bureaucracy,” “regulatory threats” “harass everyday Americans with an army of IRS agents”

Republicans are using culture war code language to open up a new front in the war on government. They say we’re a “socialist regime” using “woke bureaucracy” as a “weapon” against conservatives.

They started a “Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.” It should be called the “Select Subcommittee for the Demonization of the Federal Government.” Or as Rep. Eric Swalwell calls it:

We have to disarm their attacks without repeating their outrageous claims. Never say, “We are not (whatever they say we are doing).”

They say we use law enforcement to harass conservatives.

Say This:

They are trying to obstruct justice by discrediting law enforcement as they try to hold right-wing extremists accountable for hate crimes and violent attacks.

They claim we will “harass everyday Americans with an army of IRS agents.”

Say This:

They want to gut the IRS budget to help white-collar corporate criminals get away with tax evasion. We funded the IRS to improve customer service, update technology and make the super-rich pay their fair share.

For more on this framing, see: Un-framing the IRS: How to BEAT the right-wing attack machine.

They claim we use “regulatory threats” to impede economic freedom.

Say This:

We use government to protect the public from physical and financial harm.

We use government to fight for economic fairness. We stand up to global corporate monopolies to protect workers and consumers, to increase competition and to reduce the influence of money in politics.

For more on this approach, see: Democrats Are The Party of Economic Fairness: President Biden has opened a new battlefront in the economic public debate.

They say we use government to push our “woke” agenda on businesses, including social media platforms.

Say This:

We use government to protect people’s rights to be treated equally in the public sphere, both online and off, and to incentivize the private sector to help preserve our only viable human habitat.

When they talk about what they will do, this antigovernment rhetoric is strategically toned down.

What they say they will do:

“reduce associated regulatory and permitting barriers,” “countering overregulation with common-sense guardrails like the REINS Act.”

There is a legitimate debate happening within our own ranks about permitting issues, particularly with regard to the housing shortage and renewable energy infrastructure.

It may sound like Republicans are being unusually reasonable in using language like “commonsense guardrails,” which validates our framing. Unfortunately, they are using it as a Trojan horse in which to hide the REINs Act, which is an all-out assault on the separation of powers and on the executive branch’s authority to intervene in the market on behalf of the American people.

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Debate Warfare Tactics

Projection and Inoculation

What they say about us:

“radical agenda,” “gaslighting,” “irresponsible, cynical, political stunt.”

You could call this psychological projection. They accuse us of doing exactly what they are doing themselves. In addition to being infuriating, it is an extremely effective inoculation tactic in the public debate.

As soon as they call us something, our future attacks are neutralized. If we say the same thing about them later, it is perceived as just more political name-calling, feeding the “both sides are just as bad” narrative.

Conviction, Repetition and Validation

There are three things that make brains believe that something is true: conviction, repetition and validation. The first is how certain you sound when you say it. The second is hearing it over and over again. The third is hearing it from multiple sources, especially those that appear independent. None of them are about logic or facts.

People believe what conservatives say because they speak with total conviction and without hesitation, and they all say the same things, over and over again.

They use these tactics to establish association. Do not to respond to these attacks in ways that repeat and strengthen those associations.

Positive association:

“strong,” “stable,” “appropriate,” “responsible,” “bipartisan,” “wisdom,” “common-sense,” “responsibility,” “fiscal responsibility.”

Republicans work to associate themselves with strong and positive words.

Negative association:

“weaponized,” “all-out assault,” “killed,” “harass,” “army,” “threats.”

This is fear-mongering, an attempt to associate Democrats with violence and threat.

“inflation crisis,” “brink of an economic recession,” “Democrat-induced recession,” “a federal government mired in financial ruin.”

This is economic fear-mongering, associating Democrats with dire economic conditions that don’t exist.

We want people to associate Democrats with safety and economic security. Use and repeat language that evokes safety and economic security when talking about ourselves and what we offer people.

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The Bottom Line

Republicans put an incredible amount of work, attention and resources into choosing the language they use and using it with great consistency, not just in their attack ads, but in every statement they make, press release they put out, or graphic they post online. They know how much it impacts people’s thinking to trigger frames, create associations, evoke images and emotions, and root them all in our minds through repetition. Republicans are very good at this, far better than we are.

We must do the same. It’s not enough to just come up with a narrative about a particular issues. We all need to develop the skill set of engaging in this public contest of language, of forming people’s understanding of what government is and what it is for. We need to develop the awareness of how the words we use impact people’s perception of who we are and what we are willing to fight for.

We can start by paying attention. We can learn an awful lot just by looking at what Republicans are saying, about us and about themselves.

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Thanks, as always, for reading and subscribing. I hope you are able to use this in your work and your activism!

In solidarity,

Antonia

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