Democrats Should Dump 'Cap and Trade' [and green jobs, and global warming] Messages -- Pollster - NYTimes.com

The 12-page memo (pdf) was based on a dozen focus groups conducted with swing voters in six states. Based on those sessions, the memo says clean-energy advocates face "significant" challenges in selling their agenda.

The memo advises that the best sales pitch for Democrats' plans is "Get America running on clean energy." Forget talk about "green jobs" and "cap and trade."

Democrats should drop "cap and trade" altogether since it carries negative connotations, the memo advises.
...
* Do not focus on global warming as a primary vehicle for selling the energy agenda, since voters do not see it as an immediate threat to the United States or to themselves.
...
The charge that Democrats' energy plans will cost families an average of $3,000 a year -- a number commonly circulated by opponents of the climate legislation -- has "resonance and is memorable," the memo warns. Thus the best way to counter that claim is to provide voters with another dollar figure, especially because they have shown willingness to support some cost increases.

Key text from the memo above:

Awareness about global warming is broad, and some in the public are seriously concerned about it. But almost no one in our groups expressed such concern; for most voters, global warming is not significant enough on its own to drive support for major energy reform.