I think the Republican snob effect was probably a factor, but only a small factor, in turning off the new electorate... the young and the non-white-male voters. The Donald certainly did not help Romney with his showboating $5 M offer. I think the out-of-touch-with-the-new-electorate Republican social and immigration platforms had a much bigger role than the psychological snob effect. Voters actually do look at issues. The new electorate looked at the voters and cast their votes for Obama.
Chris From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dr. Ernest Prabhakar Sent: Friday, November 09, 2012 11:40 AM To: Centroids Discussions Subject: [RC] How The Donald Helped Re-elect the President | Psychology Today A very different analysis, but probably accurate. I didn't help that Romney's character weakness are somewhat endemic to Republicans these days... http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/who-we-are/201211/how-the-donald-helped- re-elect-the-president How The Donald Helped Re-elect the President The Republican side unwisely went after Barrack Obama's status. He is un-American, they said. Donald Trump attacked Obama's birth certificate. In a column in the WSJ the normally insightful Peggy Noonan wrote that Obama had fallen far since 2008. [Hey, Peggy he has fallen to the status of re-elected President. What are you talking about?] Mitt himself treated Obama at times in a dismissive manner (eg, look at the tone he used in the third debate when he told Obama not to interrupt and wait his turn.) The uppity quality of the Republican effort to knock down the status of the President led to a backlash. Nobody likes a snob. This demeaning attitude helped motivate the long, long lines of minority voters. Had Mitt & Co. corrected for their blind spot on the basic desire for status -- that is, had they been more careful not to project a superior attitude toward Obama -- maybe those long lines of voters would have been smaller. Romney might have won if early on he had told The Donald to shut up, denounced the birthers, and made it clear that the President would not be demeaned in any way. We all have blind spots, of course. Obama's overconfdent nature played a significant role in his trying to do too much in his first term. Mitt may have a tendency toward snobbery under stress, but he has numerous character strengths, too. On an intrpersonal level, he seems very likeable. I am not writing this to judge him. I am making a psychological point in the election analysis you are unlikely to see made by other analysts. It was the long lines -- the 12th man in football terms -- that sunk Romney. So here is the psychological lesson of the election. If you are a snob at your core, you have to hide it better to win a national election. Too many times the "demeaning" attitude (he is un-American; he is lazy; sit down and shut up) was visible and it motivated Obama's supporters. Tags: <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/aggressive-nature-0> aggressive nature, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/backlash> backlash, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/barrack-obama> barrack obama, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/birth-certificate> birth certificate, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/blind-spot> blind spot, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/blind-spots> blind spots, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/cooperative-nature> cooperative nature, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/donald-trump> donald trump, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/insightful> insightful, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/intense-stress> intense stress, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/killer-instinct> killer instinct, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/minority-voters> minority voters, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/peggy-noonan-1> peggy noonan, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/poor-job> poor job, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/reiss> reiss, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/republican-effort> republican effort, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/republican-side> republican side, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/superior-attitude> superior attitude, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/thoughts-and-feelings> thoughts and feelings, <http://www.psychologytoday.com/tags/wsj> wsj -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
