Through a bravura tour of American political leaders and their appeals to the electorate, Drew Westen shows that Americans don’t vote with their heads but with their hearts–and that Democratic politicians had better wise up in their approach.
The Political Brain is a serious and groundbreaking investigation into the role of emotion in deciding the outcome of elections. It looks at data across several presidential elections from the 1950s through 2000, examines the evidence for the role of emotion in driving voting behavior, and provides a “clinical” view of a number of campaign ads, debate lines, and personal profiles of the candidates who have sought to win our hearts.
The Political Brain describes why Democrats routinely lose to Republicans despite being right on the issues. Democrats approach elections like job interviews, whereas Republicans see elections as dates. Specifically, Democrats foolishly believe that voters are “dispassionate” calculators of relative utility whereas Republicans understand that to win the mind you must first capture the heart.
Democrats will find the passages dealing with Bush/Gore and Bush/Kerry agonizing reading. Again and again, George Bush and his attack dogs mauled Al Gore without any response. Gore foolishly allowed Bush to go scot free on his drunken-cocaine-belly up business record.
Kerry stupidly allowed draft dodging war zero Bush to “swift boat” him into oblivion. Both Gore and Kerry thought they were taking the high ground by ignoring Bush’s slimy attacks. Instead, they took the fast track to oblivion.
In both cases, Kerry and Gore chose not to rebut Bush’s vicious attacks and by so doing, they appeared weak. Voters thought ‘if you can’t fight back against Bush, how will you fight back against America’s enemies’?
Westen’s most compelling passages are his proscriptions to Democrats. When Republicans demagogue on Flag Burning, Democrats should counter with “Flag Hiding” proposals that legally require all deceased service people to be brought home in flag draped coffins in public. That way, Republicans are forced to show the true cost of their wars and bloodlust.
The GOP “death tax” is countered by a Democratic charge of a Republican “birth tax”, i.e., the monstrous Bush-Cheney deficits impose a gigantic tax burden on every baby born in every state in this nation.
Barack Obama receives high marks for his intuitive, charismatic style. But all Democrats can and should learn from this important book.
Related Books:
- Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History (Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics) – Thomas Barfield
- American Progressivism: A Reader – By Ronald J. Pestritto
- A Journey: My Political Life – Tony Blair
- East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History : Patricia Buckley Ebrey, Anne Walthall, James Palais
- Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making, Revised Edition – Deborah Stone
- Going Rogue: An American Life : Sarah Palin
- Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln – By Doris Kearns Goodwin
