Romney’s Framing Problem

The writer of the winsomely named The Snug of the Pub blog offers his thoughts on the conservative media’s framing of  Romney’s VP selection . A lot of commentators want a choice, like Paul Ryan, that “would force this election to be about ‘a big choice’ or ‘generational decision on the philosophy of government’.” But, he continues,

the key matter is the framing of the choice and the ideas that animate that framing. This framing really demonstrates how disconnected the conservative media is from the actual world of people trying to make ends meet, or even truly understanding the challenges facing the Romney campaign.

The people who will decide this election are concerned about finding a job, preserving their job, stretching their paychecks which have shrunk, and long term economic security. They think Obama has done a poor job but are concerned that Romney is not interested in their problems and will only serve the interests of the affluent.

The problem, he goes on to argue, is as a sociologist might put it the social location of the commentators and the campaign staff, and of course the candidate himself. A long history of Republican cluelessness should leave no conservative confident that the commentators and the people who run campaigns have any idea what the voters they need to move actually need and want.