Hi Chris, On Nov 9, 2012, at 10:52 AM, "Chris Hahn" <[email protected]> wrote: > 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.
I'm not sure I can distinguish the two. Romney's out-of-touchness was the dominant narrative for the entire political season, and reflected in both his policy positions (or lack thereof) and his personal gaffes. -- Ernie P. > > 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: aggressive nature, backlash, barrack obama, birth certificate, blind > spot, blind spots, cooperative nature, donald trump, insightful, intense > stress, killer instinct, minority voters, peggy noonan, poor job, reiss, > republican effort, republican side, superior attitude,thoughts and feelings, > 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 -- 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
