In the end, political success is built upon activating the EMOTIONS of the people you want to vote for you in order to get them either afraid enough of the enemy to vote for your side or angry enough to vote for your side. The GoP has succeeded at this at an epic level.
Selling hope and aspiration is a third and poor choice, especially i…
In the end, political success is built upon activating the EMOTIONS of the people you want to vote for you in order to get them either afraid enough of the enemy to vote for your side or angry enough to vote for your side. The GoP has succeeded at this at an epic level.
Selling hope and aspiration is a third and poor choice, especially in a society of political cynicism such as ours. We have gone far too many decades where the electoral branches of government have failed to visibly deliver... or, when they have delivered, have failed to demonstrate that in a substantive way to the people.
The common man is more convinced by the anecdote that he/she hears than the data that is presented. They don't understand the data or even really want to hear it or think too much about it. STORIES sell things. Narrative is king. Their logic is the "small" logic of narrative as informed by preconceptions, not actual logic or reason. rationalization rather than reason built upon bias and anecdote and "everyone knows."
I am trying to think of a current Democrat that is a good story-teller and I am drawing a blank. Obama was a bit better than many, but the problem was he was black... and visibly educated and sometimes a bit too sarcastic.
Tell good stories. Get people angry. Get people afraid, let them believe that you will save them (because in their fear and anger they will believe you out of desperation--just ask the GoP about that--because that is what they have been doing all these years).
Yes, it paints a bad picture of how people make political decisions. Guess what, people make political decisions for bad reasons. Look around you.
In the end, political success is built upon activating the EMOTIONS of the people you want to vote for you in order to get them either afraid enough of the enemy to vote for your side or angry enough to vote for your side. The GoP has succeeded at this at an epic level.
Selling hope and aspiration is a third and poor choice, especially in a society of political cynicism such as ours. We have gone far too many decades where the electoral branches of government have failed to visibly deliver... or, when they have delivered, have failed to demonstrate that in a substantive way to the people.
The common man is more convinced by the anecdote that he/she hears than the data that is presented. They don't understand the data or even really want to hear it or think too much about it. STORIES sell things. Narrative is king. Their logic is the "small" logic of narrative as informed by preconceptions, not actual logic or reason. rationalization rather than reason built upon bias and anecdote and "everyone knows."
I am trying to think of a current Democrat that is a good story-teller and I am drawing a blank. Obama was a bit better than many, but the problem was he was black... and visibly educated and sometimes a bit too sarcastic.
Tell good stories. Get people angry. Get people afraid, let them believe that you will save them (because in their fear and anger they will believe you out of desperation--just ask the GoP about that--because that is what they have been doing all these years).
Yes, it paints a bad picture of how people make political decisions. Guess what, people make political decisions for bad reasons. Look around you.