"Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody." - Franklin Pierce Adams
It's Time For A Change.
Political Campaigns inundate Americans with propaganda. Each candidate is made out to look like a villain who is running for the presidency solely so they can destroy the economy and put America in the most global danger possible.
In his book, "The Political Brain", Drew Westen proves that voters choose their candidate solely on emotion with an experiment he so correctly dubs, 'The Partisan Brain.' Westen monitored the brain activity of 15 hard core Democrats and 15 hard core Republicans. "We presented partisans with six sets of statements involving clear inconsistencies by Kerry, six by Bush, and six by politically neutral male figures (e.g. Tom Hanks, William Styron)."
Each Partisan viewed a series of slides
1. An initial statement- a quote from the candidate
2. A contradictory statement- taken from candidate, "which suggested a clear inconsistency that would be threatening to a partisan"
3. A slide asking them to consider what they read and decide if it was inconsistent
4. A slide asking them to rate the extent to which they agreed that the candidate's words and deeds were contradictory, from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree)
Outcome:
The partisans "had no trouble seeing the contradictions for the opposition candidate, rating his inconsistencies close to a 4 on the four-point rating scale. For their own candidate, however, ratings averaged closer to 2, indicating minimal contradiction."
Not only is it an issue that partisans find it nearly impossible to indicate which candidate is telling the truth or even being consistent but it is caused by the fact they are blinded by their commitment to their party. This dangerous loyalty can be somewhat attributed to the dirty business that is said about each candidate. Political commercials are usually the outlet for such shenanigans.
The best example of a dramatic campaign commercial is from the presidential race between Lyndon B. Johnson and Barry Goldwater in 1964 . The ad was actually created by the almighty Doyle Dane Bernbach, famous for it's unique approach to advertising. This ad shocked the American public and was pulled immediately after its one time infamous showing on NBC in September of '64. "The Living Room Candidate" says that "the frightening ad was instantly perceived as a portrayals of Barry Goldwater as an extremist." After this one showing the public got the jest, Goldwater is dangerous therefore Lyndon Johnson must be safe.
The Results of the 1964 Presidential Race were astronomical Goldwater carried 6 states, where as Johnson carried the other 44.
My Proposal: Blind Campaigning
The Candidates are announced on the news and campaigning goes as usual, except the public never sees the actual candidates. No one will see their skin color or hear their Alaskan accent until the ballots are counted and the race is over.
All of their information will be throughly available to the public however it will only include their party, their resume, their intentions once obtaining the presidency, a time line of when what will be accomplished, a list of their beliefs (values and opinions) and graphs juxtaposed with their opposing candidates information.
Every stance they hold will be explained on paper (recycled paper of course) and distributed accordingly
There will be no need for political commercials because everyone who is interested will be overwhelmingly informed on the briefing they receive on each candidate
The campaign will be very simple with a decent sized budget, however candidates will raise just as much money as before, but this time the campaign funds with be put to good use for their #1 cause on their list of things they will change while president
Though I will dearly miss the SNL skits- I think we can find a way to make it work.
I think we would all be surprised on who we actually vote for, when focusing on what we should be basing our decision on in the first place; What that person will actually accomplish while holding the presidency.
Your Thoughts?
