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In the current essay, “Kamala Harris and the Strategy of Joy,” Dr. Lakoff talks about the important role of emotion in political campaigns:

“Joy is powerful because it plays on your emotions. And your emotions are everything in politics.”

“If you feel good about somebody’s political views – if joining with them, voting for them, etc., makes you feel good, makes you feel happy – that’s the most powerful thing there can be in politics. If they identify with something deep inside you, with who you really are most deeply, that’s what this is about.”

“This is about politics that identifies with who people are, what they need. You know – what their values are, what their everyday life is like – all of those things. And that’s what Kamala has been able to pull off, which is remarkable. That’s what a political leader really needs.”

And you’d prefer to listen, Dr. Lakoff discusses the Kamala Harris’s use of both joy and the freedom frame in the latest episode of the FrameLab podcast. Available on Apple, Soundcloud, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please subscribe!