How to Speak Conservative: Define Both Sides of the Conversation

Lesson 1:Define both sides of the conversation

As a conservative, you want people to agree with you. But we understand, many of your positions are positions that are difficult to support or argue. Trickle down theory, for example.

So how do you handle this?

One thing I’d recommend is to setup the conversation so that you define both sides of the argument.

Your side. And the fringe, radical-thinking, liberal, attack side of the argument.

You want to be seen as reasonable. And you want anyone who disagrees with you to be seen as unreasonable.

Here’s a few examples.

Sarah Palin on the Laura Ingraham show:

And I know I’m going to be again criticized for bringing this up, but instead of a government thinking that they need to take over and make decisions for us according to some politician or politician’s wife priorities, just leave us alone, get off our back and allow us as individuals to exercise our own God-given rights to make our own decisions and then our country gets back on the right track.

See how this works. Anyone who disagrees with Sarah must be criticizing her.

Do this and you’ve successfully won the game from the start.

Glenn Beck in an interview about his rally on the Mall:

I tell you right now, we are on the right side of history. We are on the side of individual freedoms and liberties and damn it, we will reclaim the civil right’s moment. We will take that movement because we were the people that did it in the first place.

Beck’s style is a bit different. But it has the same result. He claims that he’s on the right side of history.

Get it? If you oppose Glenn, you must be on the wrong side. You must be against individual freedoms and liberties.

Does anyone want to be against individual freedom and liberty?

Not really. Then, according to Glenn, you must agree with him. If you don’t, you’re on the other side.

What you don’t want to do is only state your position. You want to make sure that when you state your position, you define the opposition as well.

The opposition are hippie radicals. Or worse. Weak. Out of touch. Baby killers. The opposition is ugly. The opposition is out to get you.

If you define both sides of the argument, you’ve won from the start. Because as the “definer,” you have the opportunity to not only make your side of the argument attractive, but to also make all those who disagree look like horrible, unspeakable things.