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If Independent voters were disgusted with Democratic inaction why did they turn around and vote in the very party that has enabled in part, Democratic inaction? A big part of the reason may be simply that Republicans are better at casting their agenda in terms that many Americans can relate to, whether those terms are honest or not. Republican catch phrases like “tax and spend,” “deficit spending,” “big government,” “government takeover,” and “enthusiasm gap,” have the ability to stick in our minds and make connections that may not even be accurate but that inform our political leanings, and on election day, how we vote. Democrats, on the other hand, are traditionally poor players for the hearts and minds of voters. Even in President Obama’s post-election press conference, his inability to speak in broad moral terms was clearly revealed. That, according Cognitive Scientist and Linguist, George Lakoff, is one of the Democrats greatest shortcomings.

GUEST: George Lakoff is Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of The Political Mind, Don’t Think of an Elephant, Moral Politics, Whose Freedom, and Thinking Points — as well as many books on the brain, mind, and language.

Read George Lakoff’s articles here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff