shorter Lakoff

I tried reading Moral Politics, but I have to admit that it made me vaguely uncomfortable. Now, I think I know why. Billmon nails it:

The best way to a voter's "heart," in other words, isn't exactly through the stomach, but it does work, shall we say, from the bottom up. Which is why most really effective mass propaganda is aimed, in one way or another, at massaging that sweet spot tucked away on the bottom of the cerebrum. When the consultants talk about "hot button" issues, that's the button they mean.

It boils down to an appeal to our baser instincts, and while Lakoff can dress it up in pretty language, really his framework of strict vs. nurturing fathers is just another tactic to get at these buttons.