ABSTRACT
In the run-up to the 2004 U.S. elections an obscure cognitive linguist, George Lakoff , suddenly burst upon the American political scene and became a cult hero. He coached Democrats on how to tell their story, spoke at party meetings across the country, appeared on talk shows, and wrote a widely circulated political primer (Lakoff , 2004). Meanwhile White House political adviser Karl Rove (2010) was guiding President George W. Bush’s political agenda by promoting “tax relief ” and the “war on terrorism” in the aftermath of 9/11 as Republican consultant Frank Luntz (2006, 2007) also was honing his “new American lexicon” composed of the phrases that conservatives should avoid. American politics had become engulfed in what the New York Times magazine coined “the framing wars” (Bai, 2005). Politicians, the media, and the public had begun to focus serious attention on the importance of words, narratives, and metaphors-how to frame political messages.
