Political Language

One method politicians use to attract median voters is manipulation of the language. They frame their opinions and policy with more neutral terms. Thus, using the right language is essential in political world.

In one of the Washington Post's affliated blogs, The Fix, Chris Cillizza, a former Roll Call newspaper journalist, mentions about the importance of language and image in politics. In this perticular blog entry, he parses the polls and examines the effects of the political words.

The new Gallup survey, nationally conducted at the end of November, brings us an insight to what the terms such as "liberal," "conservative," and "progressive" mean to people today. Check out Cillizza's interesting interpretation of this survey. For example, he says that the fact that 54 percent of the respondents considered themselves "conservative" while 34 percent said that they were "liberal" reveals the image problem Democrats have had in recent elections. This blog entry also sheds light on the exit polls from the last general election.