The term relieved its user of the need to explain their arguments or analyse those of others – Howard's supporters could simply cast critiques as "hatred" and disregard their underlying rationale. Writing in The Age in 2006, Professor Allan Patience observed: "It seems that all critics of the government . . . are now branded 'Howard-haters' despite legitimate concerns about government policies on Iraq, the US alliance, Asia, asylum seekers, Aborigines [sic], industrial relations, voluntary student unionism, welfare, education, infrastructure decay and taxation."

The phrase “Howard haters” served as a framing device, similar to the efforts of the right in both America and Australia to associate left-of-centre views with elitism and snobbery. In his book Don't Think of an Elephant!, the American cognitive linguist George Lakoff argued that the conservative side of politics was more effective at "framing" political debates. Lakoff explained: "Framing is about getting language that fits your worldview . . . The ideas are primary — and the language carries those ideas, evokes those ideas."

Phrases such as “Howard haters” evoke the sense that progressive ideals amount to no more than an irrational hatred of conservatives. In similar vein, the phrase "envy politics" reduces ideology to character traits, and the charge of "moral vanity" associates the left with arrogance. The ALP and its fellow travellers are thus defined, not as having a view of a good society that differs from that of the Coalition, but as possessed by spite, hubris and enmity.

This is not to say that there is no place for conflict in politics, which is after all a site of ideological contest. It should also be noted that the government faces critiques from both left and right – some of the animosity towards Prime Minister Julia Gillard stems from the "Malaysia Solution", which has brought shame to many members of her party.

On the right, however, the government's opponents often fail to acknowledge their own ideological standpoints or self-interest. Instead, debates are cast as a battle between a government with a seemingly irrational desire to "impoverish the nation" and the benevolent forces of common sense. The implication, as Bernard Keane notes drily, is that Labor politicians are afflicted by "some sort of genetic predisposition to waste money".