How Democrats Are Failing to Sell Health Care Reform - George Lakoff

"George Lakoff makes plain how the words used by politicians translate to the public support for various political issues. Language matters - especially when it comes to politics."

A founder of the field of cognitive science, Lakoff takes an in-depth look at the ways in which our brains understand politics, breaking down the politics of language. This is a recent speech he gave at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco.

George P. Lakoff, 68, is a professor of linguistics (in particular, cognitive linguistics) at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1972. A former disciple of Noam Chomsky, he studied under him at MIT and later broke with Chomsky over some matter of linguistics.

Lakoff is also a founder with the progressive think-tank, The Rockridge Institute, and the author of the successful "Don't Think of An Elephant", whic hmade the New York Times bestseller list.

His most recent work, "The Political Mind: How You Can't Understand 21st Century American Politics with an 18th Century Brain".