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How Politics Really Works
One major reason that the rational wonks keep getting their butts handed to them in elections. Or military leaders not making much traction in insurgencies.
With this theme, it's time for folks to be watching Andy Griffith in Budd Schulberg's "A Face in the Crowd" (1957). He's a long way from Mayberry in that one. [ "A New Personality? Why, frankly, that's impossible!" ] [ Part 1 of 12 ]
The Beehive Buzzes for Sarah Palin by Rod Dreher - Dallas Morning News - 21 Sep 08
"Anybody who believes that Mr. Obama represents substantive change should compare his Democratic convention acceptance speech to those of John Kerry and Al Gore. Mr. Obama is selling Democratic boilerplate. The same conservatives who rightly mocked Mr. Obama's appeal as superficial, drive-by emotion – yet are now ga-ga over the God, Guns and Lipstick candidate – should ask themselves how, exactly, the McCain-Palin platform differs from the same old GOP same old.
The truth is, politics in our media-driven democracy are primarily about symbolism and personality, not a rational consideration of issues. University of Virginia psychiatrist Jonathan Haidt, in trying to explain to fellow liberals why culture matters in how people vote, said the first rule of moral psychology is this: Feelings come first and tilt the mental playing field on which reasons and arguments compete.
The second rule, which Dr. Haidt says liberals tend to discount, is that morality is in large part 'about binding groups together, supporting essential institutions and living in a sanctified and noble way.''
Mr. Obama's mass appeal comes primarily from his ability to strike a resonant chord along those lines within tens of millions of voters' hearts. Same with Sarah Palin. That is irrational – but that doesn't make it foolish.
As Dr. Haidt avers, move the hearts of men, and their minds will follow. The ability to win the trust and loyalty of the majority is a critical component of leadership. Mr. Obama and Ms. Palin possess unusual degrees of charisma in its older definition – that is, the innate personal authority that makes for an exceptional leader. Given that each candidate weds that gift to distinct value systems, it's by no means clear that their discrete personal characteristics are a distraction from 'real' issues."
With this theme, it's time for folks to be watching Andy Griffith in Budd Schulberg's "A Face in the Crowd" (1957). He's a long way from Mayberry in that one. [ "A New Personality? Why, frankly, that's impossible!" ] [ Part 1 of 12 ]
The Beehive Buzzes for Sarah Palin by Rod Dreher - Dallas Morning News - 21 Sep 08
"Anybody who believes that Mr. Obama represents substantive change should compare his Democratic convention acceptance speech to those of John Kerry and Al Gore. Mr. Obama is selling Democratic boilerplate. The same conservatives who rightly mocked Mr. Obama's appeal as superficial, drive-by emotion – yet are now ga-ga over the God, Guns and Lipstick candidate – should ask themselves how, exactly, the McCain-Palin platform differs from the same old GOP same old.
The truth is, politics in our media-driven democracy are primarily about symbolism and personality, not a rational consideration of issues. University of Virginia psychiatrist Jonathan Haidt, in trying to explain to fellow liberals why culture matters in how people vote, said the first rule of moral psychology is this: Feelings come first and tilt the mental playing field on which reasons and arguments compete.
The second rule, which Dr. Haidt says liberals tend to discount, is that morality is in large part 'about binding groups together, supporting essential institutions and living in a sanctified and noble way.''
Mr. Obama's mass appeal comes primarily from his ability to strike a resonant chord along those lines within tens of millions of voters' hearts. Same with Sarah Palin. That is irrational – but that doesn't make it foolish.
As Dr. Haidt avers, move the hearts of men, and their minds will follow. The ability to win the trust and loyalty of the majority is a critical component of leadership. Mr. Obama and Ms. Palin possess unusual degrees of charisma in its older definition – that is, the innate personal authority that makes for an exceptional leader. Given that each candidate weds that gift to distinct value systems, it's by no means clear that their discrete personal characteristics are a distraction from 'real' issues."