I am by and large a "logical" voter having been blessed with the ability to have been able to do 6th grade math in 1st grade. (Simultaneously I was unable to do 1st grade art in 6th grade.) For years I used to be the number one online boggle player in America, won over 85% of scrabble contests when I played a couple of tournaments many years ago, used to solve Wheel of Fortune puzzles without a single letter revealed, was quicker than the calculator in averaging numbers in 7th grade, can still solve an entire cryptoquote without putting pen to paper, and was called the best mind to ever come through their classroom by more than 1 teacher. I was nicknamed "Rain Man" and "Genius" by many a contemporary.
I say all of this not to sound like an arrogant and pompous prick (although it does come off as that if the diary ended here) but because on paper, I'm about the last person in the world that would argue what I argue in this diary because my resume exudes logic, reason, and analysis. There are few that can match my innate skills. But all this means nothing. The bottom line is that tens of millions of voter do NOT use logic or reason as the primary instrument in deciding who to vote for. They vote on emotion and instincts. It's my job to cater to them, NOT their job to adjust to me.
Too often, many Democratic strategists and politicians who think they are the Einsteins of civilization (and most are indeed very smart logically)who believe that elections are won merely by making the best logical and factual argument and they complain whenever voters fail to use logic and reason. If indeed all voters voted based on logic and reason and whose policies were best for them, Republicans would never win a single national election.
Many people make their selections based on 5 factors that George Lakoff alludes to. Those factors are:
- Values
- Authenticity
- Communication and Connection
- Trust
- Identity
Progressives and liberals will ALWAYS win the argument from a logical standpoint on the issues. If you think logically, analytically, and reasonably, your chances of being a right wing conservative are slim to none. The McCain camp knows this and even Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager tried to claim that "this election is not about issues." (A huge blunder that will bite McCain because of the Lakoff factors above.)
What we must understand is that emotions matter and that if we so much as tie in doing a better job of symbolism and emotional connection, we win every time.
1. Values - Values do matter. Logically speaking, the right to health care, quality education, a strong environment, a pro middle class tax policy, and reality based foreign policy are values that all progressives, liberals, moderates, and reasonable conservatives hold dear. But emotional voters are more swayed by personal interactions, likability, and how one's private life matches up with their public record. These too are values and they are the values these voters hold dearest.
For those who think that the vandalism and drug stories about Track Palin don't matter or that the Bristol pregnancy story doesn't matter, you are partially right. Logical voters like myself simply say, "Well those are her children and you can't automatically impute the behavior of her children onto the parent. We shouldn't be talking about her children, they are out of bounds and off limits. We should be focusing on how to make our country safer, how to strengthen education, how to improve health care, and how better to clean up the environment." So with logic voters, the dysfunctional household of Todd and Sarah Palin means squat.
But what about "emotions voters?" They don't see the issue as I do and most of you do. They say to themselves, "Wait, she's proclaiming to be a champion of family values but doesn't practice any of it. Her oldest son should be in jail right now for cocaine use and vandalism. He's always drunk and stoned. Her husband Todd is a prick who abuses power and is mean to people. That guy has Get Off My Lawn written all over that smirk. I would never let him within a mile of my own children. Oh and Bristol. Reputation has it that every good looking teenage guy in Wasilla has gotten to at least 2nd base with Bristol and now she's knocked up with that prick Levi? And the mother banished her from the house when she got pregnant? Whoa, what the f**k is this? Todd and Sarah Palin suck as parents and this family has some serious issues and screwed up values. It must be hell living under their roof. Now that Obama guy, I don't know him well and I'm not sure about him but he's married to the same woman for almost 20 years and they clearly love those 2 kids. Besides, Sasha is adorable. I think I'm voting Obama."
Now if someone new came on to Daily Kos and said that the reason why they won't vote for McCain/Palin was because of the above, that person would be labeled a troll and logical people would probably think the person came here from Fox News so Bill O'Reilly can say something mean about us again. But not everybody reads Daily Kos. Some people do make up their minds based on something that seems illogical to most of us but to an emotional voter, makes perfect sense.
Emotional voters see values from a PERSONAL and HUMAN perspective NOT a POLICY perspective. Values such as a) Who would I most like to have a drink with, or b) Who would I trust more to watch my kids for the day or c) Which person would I want to work for if I could, etc..... mean almost everything to these voters. So instead of us complaining about it, we should simply try to do better in connecting with people.
All of the Reverend Wright malarkey and the distorting of comments about a bitter America is designed to undermine Obama on values. Obama has done a fairly decent job of debunking all this bullcrap but will still need to close the deal in this area.
2. Authenticity - Logical voters laughed when Bush in 2000 twisted Al Gore's internet comment and kept repeating that Al Gore claimed he invented the Internet. Logical voters could point out that Gore did indeed play a large legislative role in bringing the Internet to Americans and that Gore was taken out of context. Logical voters understood that Gore had the better arguments on social security, health care, and the economy and was clearly prepared.
Emotions voters felt something different. They saw a guy who was inauthentic because nobody "real" could ever claim that he invented the Internet. They saw Dukakis as a moron running around in a tank, Kerry as a windsurfing elitist who couldn't care one iota about their problems (even though his policies would have helped them tremendously), Gore as a stiff, Carter as out of touch, etc... They saw Bush Sr. as someone who didn't care because he looked at his watch during the debate. They saw Dole as boring and clueless. They saw Ford as a bumbling idiot who couldn't even walk down steps without tripping. They liked Reagan because he came across as genuine even if we all know the exact opposite was true. They also liked Clinton (Pre-Monica) because Clinton "could feel their pain."
Emotional voters care about authenticity. If you are all hat and no cattle, you've lost them. If you don't come across as legit, you've lost them. If your personal life conflicts with the policies you advocate for, you've lost them. They want people who tell them what they believe regardless of the political correctness or convenience of the current situation. What you preach better match up with what you practice. I talk politics frequently (surprise, surprise) and there are many conservative Republicans who I know that would vote for me running as a Democrat and no other Democrat out there. Why? I'm authentic. They see over time that I'm real in what I believe in and that I don't change my views for pure convenience. They will be more comfortable with someone authentic that they agree with 10% of the time than they are with someone inauthentic that they agree with 90% of the time. For those who wonder why many voters vote against their own economic interests or social interests, it's usually about authenticity.
Therefore, it is very important that we hammer McCain/Palin as inauthentic. You lampoon McCain has a flip flopper, someone obsessed with power, a man who will say or do anything for power, and yes an elitist with 7 homes. You show up in mass at his rallies and start jingling keys while he speaks because it hammers home his inauthenticity. You play McCain's quote from 2002 in which he said the only reason he ran to be President was for the "prize." You state directly and often that McCain is lying, that the McCain of 2000 would never vote for the McCain of 2008 not because it's a great punch line but because it goes to authenticity. And, perhaps most effective -- You remind voters that the McCain campaign says McCain does not speak for the McCain campaign. If you can sink these messages into emotions voters, they will not vote for McCain even if they happen to be one of the few people who agree more with him on the issues than Obama.
Most of you laughed when you saw those ridiculous ads about "The One." But they were run for two reasons, one reason being to slice and dice Obama on authenticity. It worked for a couple of weeks because it went unresponded to but thankfully Obama has figured out how to knock this out of the park by making it clear that the election is about the American people, not him.
3. Communication and connection - This is the biggest advantage Obama has over McCain. He communicates better and connects better and it's why I think he'll still win comfortably in the end. McCain is a crab and doesn't connect with most Americans. If all other factors are equal and it comes down to this value, Obama wins. Other than Clinton, this is the first time Democrats have had a significant advantage in this area since the 1960s. Think back to the last 14 presidential and ask yourself this one question.
Regardless of politics, who connected and communicated better ... ?
- Truman or Dewey
- Eisenhower or Stevenson
- Kennedy or Nixon
- LBJ or Goldwater
- Nixon or Humphrey
- Nixon or McGovern
- Carter or Ford
- Reagan or Carter
- Reagan or Mondale
- Bush or Dukakis
- Clinton or Bush
- Clinton or Dole
- Bush or Gore
- Bush or Kerry
Now in some instances the winner (Carter over Ford, Bush over Dukakis) won merely by default but in ALL FOURTEEN instances, the politician who clearly connected and communicated better with emotions voters WON regardless of where the American people stood with them on the issues at the time.
Emotional voters want two things. They want to feel comfortable with you and feel that you are the kind of person who could babysit their kids, have that beer with you, or hang out in their backyard on a Sunday afternoon. Simultaneously, they want to know what can you do for them and they want to know in 30 seconds. How will you help better my life? It's up to us to tell them in 30 seconds or less because they don't want a professor lecturing to them.
4. Trust - Emotions voters want to know, "Can I trust you?" If they can't trust you they won't vote for you even if you agree with them 99% of the time and the other guy only agrees with them 1% of the time. They will not vote for John Edwards because they don't trust a guy who cheats on his wife while she undergoes cancer treatment. For the same reason they despise Newt Gingrich because they don't trust a guy who serves his wife with divorce papers while she is lying in a hospital bed undergoing cancer treatment.
Trust is not about ideology or policy with emotions voters. This is an instinctive test inside of each emotions voter. All of us in life trust certain people and don't trust others. Why? Because there is something about certain people that makes them trusty or untrustworthy. And make no mistake about it, trust is a value.
When emotional voters see a clip of Sarah Palin parroting her Bridge to Nowhere line and then see a picture of her holding up the Nowhere shirt, emotional voters won't trust her. If you tell emotional voters that she belongs to a dominionist church, they won't care. If you tell emotional voters about her 312 times that she billed her state to sleep at home, they care because they perceive that as untrustworthy. But if you tell emotional voters that she signed the largest spending budget in Alaska history, they won't care unless they know she's lying.
The despicable McCain ads about sex ed in kindergarten are designed to go after trust. Fortunately they can be countered by pointing out that John McCain is a liar who can't be trusted who would run such despicable ads.
5. Identity - Emotions voters want to feel a connection. They felt connected to Bill Clinton because they could identify with him and be drawn to him. They bought the guy in the woods clearing brush routine of George W Bush. I Like Ike prevailed over the superior intellectualism and superior policies of Adlai Stevenson because people could connect to Ike as a regular guy.
Emotions voters need to feel that they can relate to someone. Obama should simply be the humble guy with humble roots who worked real hard, became editor of law review at Harvard, married Michelle, has stayed married almost 20 years, has 2 wonderful kids who they are raising to be the best they can be. Also, the Obama campaign, surrogates, or independent groups should run ads mocking McCain's 7+ homes and why surrogates should be pointing out factoids like Cindy MCCain's RNC outfit cost more than what a full time worker at Walmart would make in 18 years. Emotions voters do NOT identify with elitist snobs like the McCains but they have to know that the McCains are elitist snobs. Each out of touch comment by the McCains needs to be weaved into that narrative. Comments like Cindy saying that the only way to get around Arizona is by private plane or Meghan's insulting comment about the troops or John McCain's $50 an hour to pick lettuce comment all fit this narrative.
The McCain camp has tried to project McCain onto Obama by mislabeling Barack as uppity (ignore the racial component for now) and elitist. Their chants of "USA USA USA" and their slogan of "country first" are not accidents. They are subtle messages designed to try and identify with emotions voters by implying that somehow Obama is anti-American without overtly stating such. Moreover, if emotions voters perceive Obama as uppity and elitist, they won't vote for him. Therefore it is up to all of us to correctly portray McCain as the out of touch, elitist snob. Ads showing McCain as out of touch, such as the one that ran this week, are effective and necessary. More are needed.
I would be remiss if I didn't list, in short form, the most effective lines of attack against McCain/Palin.
- Talk about issues but under the umbrella of the Rick Davis quote and how Republicans are afraid to talk about issues. By couching it this way, you reach logical voters and emotions voters.
- For emotions voter, highlight the following:
a) McCain's 7 homes and McCain not knowing how many homes he owns.
b) The John McCain of 2000 would never vote for the John McCain of 2008.
c) Cindy's outfit at the RNC in terms of being worth 18 years of full time work at Walmart.
d) Palin billing taxpayers 312 times to sleep in her own home.
e) McCain is the same as Bush. Overall he voted 90% of the time BUT emphasize that the numbers increased to 95 and 100 in the last 2 years.
f) McCain's flip flops.
g) Troopergate
h) McCain's campaign run by lobbyists.
i) McCain campaign saying McCain does not speak for McCain campaign.
If you feel this diary offers something constructive, please feel free to recommend it and pass it along to others. Due to the length of the diary, chances are everybody will agree and disagree with something I said. Please feel free to share those thoughts and ask questions.