by Nicholas Beaudrot of Electoral Math
Matt Yglesias levels the most effective criticism of the Tomasky-Teixeira-Halpin Common Good/Politics of Definition recommendations, which is that it sidesteps issues of foreign policy. All the domestic reframing in the world will not eliminate the Republican advantage on launching ill-advised wars national security and related issues. Over one third of voters cited "Iraq" or "terrorism" as the most important issue, and Bush won these voters 59-41.
While I find the "common good" frame incredibly seductive, Matt's almost certainly right. Reframing support for universal health care, the minimum wage, and fighting global warming as self-interest best expressed as group interest—that's the easy part. Finding convincing foreign policy principals to compete with, to paraphrase The Onion, "kill the bastards" [$1 to whoever can find a link to the article I'm talking about] is the difficult question that's not getting enough attention.
