“Students who become Democratic operatives tend to study political studies and statistics and demographics in college. Students who lean Republican study marketing. It’s a very different way of thinking.”
There’s no shortage of differences between Democrats and Republicans, but it’s possible the biggest and most important difference is in how the two parties approach their messaging.
Berkeleyside profiles retired professor George Lakoff, author of Don’t Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate, who shares some fascinating observations about how each party articulates their message.
He explains that in order to reach people who disagree with you it’s crucial to understand their subconscious worldview and points out Republicans typically understand that and target their messaging to a worldview while Democrats tend to ignore it and focus on rationality, facts, and policies instead.