I learned a new term today, dog-whistle politics, can you give me examples of this both republican and democrat?

I’m surprised that the wikipedia article doesn’t include a reference and a link to the Southern Strategy. I believe that was the origin of dog whistle politics (someone can probably correct me).

I don’t know that the left has an equivalent. I’m not sure that they have a particular agenda that is so specific to their base, and so sensitive to their opposition, that a coded language is needed.

This is a bit off topic, but I thought about the French election held yesterday. They have a strict law and high fines about early predictions of the outcome, so Twitter users came up with codes, to report the early exit poll results as learned from their neighboring countries. Pretty clever – and amazing to me that social media can so quickly generate a coded language that is timely and relevant.

This is the Wikipedia page on it. A very graphic example.

My word, yes, I have a friend who is to the right of Michelle Bachman and these sort of things trigger him to no end.

Inner city, urban decay, good Christian standards (anti-Muslim), illegal immigrants all come to mind.

Here’s an example that I think is prevalent today: the use of “BHO” to refer to the President. I see that shorthand used exclusively by the far right, as a reminder of the “funny-sounding” “foreign” middle name. But you can’t really call anyone out on it, because those are, after all, his initials. BO would certainly confer who we’re talking about, but lacks the dog whistle. And PBO not only confers who we’re speaking of, but does so with respect, so of course that isn’t even remotely an option.

@GoldieAV16 Great answer! I remember hearing Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton but President Bush.

Illegal immigration, voter-ID laws, and selective-sex abortion are usually dog whistles for racism.

The word “family” is loaded anti-gay significance in right-speak.

All these examples, do you think the random right wing republican realizes it is perceived as racist? Do they all know the “secret” meanings?

@JLeslie Yes, they do. For example, ‘traditional families’ is clearly aimed at the right to marry movement. What they’re doing is taking something feared (‘I Have Two Mommies’) and appealling to the far right’s fear that something is being taken away from them.

Those usually are more about playing on implicit bias, and to those who find themselves saying “I’m not a racist but…”.

I’ve heard that “calling” is a real dog-whistle to the Evangelical Movement:

“Callings, for those who are unfamiliar with the practice, are purportedly instructions from God as to how he wants you, personally, to execute his will. For example, when I was five, I was “called” to minister through song (and make lots and lots of money for our pastor). Often people are “called” to donate time or money. It is a divine “anointing” and disregarding your calling will lead to very, very bad things. A “calling” is also an enormous dog whistle, since it encourages other Evangelicals to support the person called. If I say I felt I was called to run for local dog catcher, chances are local Evangelicals will vote for me. And voting is very, very important in the Evangelical Movement.”

One of the newer ones is “entitlement”. Usually referring to Social Security, Medicare. It also refers to programs to help the poor (Medicaid, Food Stamps, Health Care programs…etc). It really annoys me when they use it for SS and Medicare though. We have all paid into these programs with every paycheck. The government sure feels entitled to take it, but if we expect to see any of it back then we are labeled as selfish and entitled. Um, no. I feel entitled to receive my Social Security and Medicare benefits when I get older in the same way that I feel entitled to receive food when I pay for it at a restaurant.

I just never thought about that until now. This explains the queasy feeling I get whenever I hear a Republican say the word “patriotism”. Lol. And what about “compassionate conservatism-? I remember thinking, what the fuck does that mean? Maybe it’s dog whistle for both Republicans and Democrats. That’s just brilliant because it works both ways.

“Compassionate” for Dems, to make them think of Reps as benevolent and understanding and “Conservatism” for Republicans which means, we are going to bend them to our will the motherfuckers and they won’t even know it.

I don’t know, I still think for most of the terms and many republicans it is just more vocabulary to them. They are just using the language that is being used around them, and they don’t realize.

I think it can go beyond words to the visual. One recent example is David Axelrod’s twitter photo of Obama and his dog in the limo. A swipe at Romney and the dog kennel on top of the car. Obama’s campaign immediately came out with their new Pet Lovers for Obama.

Obama’s Greek temple stage for his acceptance speech was a message he is the emperor.

Obama’s comments that he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. A high pitched sound that strikes a chord with those who do battle with the rich.

Some of the clothing Mrs. Obama wore in the beginning of her husband’s presidency were signals that she was one of us.

Some have asked if Axelrod’s comment, “Romney’s penchant for secrecy” is a dog whistle message to bring up the Mormon’s church alleged secrecy.

@GoldieAV16

Just wondering if you think that FDR or JFK are some sort of secret conservative code as well. Democrats have typically use the initials for thier heroes. BHO is not some right wing plot.

I suppose I could say ‘fairness’ means ‘tax the rich’. ‘Rich’ means $200K. ‘Wall Street’ means ‘all evil in the world today’.

Sounds like paranoia to me, conspiracy theories and secret codes. I don’t think that this is at all as planned and widespread as you all seem to think it is.
The words that the different parties use to debate and make their points with their constituents and others who they are trying to persuade to join their side of an issue, are just that, words. What is the secret?
Illegal immigration, is a talking point because it is an important subject to a lot of people.
Taxing the rich, is a talking point because it is an important subject to a lot of people.

Dog-whistle politics is a new term for me as well. However, the use of coded phrases is anything but new. Only this term for it is new.

@Jaxk Which is exactly why it’s such a good dog whistle. It has deniability. You surely aren’t suggesting that conservatives use that because he is one of their heroes? Or that they wish to pay tribute to him by placing him in the class of FDR and JFK?

Because if that’s what you’re suggesting, I’m just laughing at your disingenuous reply.

@GoldieAV16

I’m not sure what there is to deny. I haven’t received any new decoder ring so maybe I’m behind the curve but what is BHO supposed to imply? If there’s a secret, it’s been well kept.

Just for the record, neither FDR nor JFK are one of my heroes. They are primarily Democratic heroes. I would put BHO in the same category as FDR but that’s not a good thing.

I don’t get the BHO either. Does BHO stand for something that I’m not getting?

I thought that it was just like JFK and FDR.

Or NLG (Newt Leroy Gingrich) or WMR (Willard Mitt Romney) as they are commonly called by Conservatives.

Yes, I see now that it is common practice for conservatives to refer to their leaders this way.

My bad for suggesting it was a dog whistle (your secret is safe with me!).

@GoldieAV16, seriously, I don’t see how BHO, which I don’t ever use nor seen used, become a reminder of the, as you said, “funny-sounding” “foreign” middle name of the POTUS? I’ve seen people use and heard them say “Barry” and Barack Hussein Obama, but never BHO.

It’s extremely common on blogs, comment sections, twitter, and used solely by RW as a pejorative. Just do a search on Twitter – you’ll get hundreds of recent uses, and not very nice. #bho is also used to tag TCOT posts.

I’m laughing at myself. I have no idea what RW or TCOT means. I don’t do Twitter and very, very rarely read blogs. That must explain my ignorance on the initials. I still don’t see it as negative. That is the magic of the dog whistle thing I suppose, not everyone gets the message.

RW= right wing
TCOT = top conservatives on twitter

Sorry!

Don’t apologize. It just shows me I have a lot to learn.

I didn’t know what any of that meant either, and I have never heard the president referred to as BHO. I must be further out of touch than I thought I was.

I suspect they use a lot of initials on twitter.

IDK, @Jaxk

I may be going out on a limb here but after reading up on it – the whole Birth Certificate incident came to mind. Would this have come up – would Obama’s eligibility have come up – had he been white? Bluntly, the Birther movement is dog-whistle politics for racism.

Correct me if I err.

A media thing, I think. I figure that you’re going to notice the ones for the other side before you notice your own, which are tuned to you.