General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Won't vote because of lack of "inspiring candidate".... [View all]JHan
(10,173 posts)Marketing models metastasized into politics and changed the game.
It's why there's such a hyper focus on "messaging" instead of systemic issues which impact voting, instead of history, instead of mulitple factors that may impact an election. It's ALL ABOUT MESSAGING AND SLOGANS YAY.
Because it's really about branding and what you signal to the world. Think about the products we love and what they symbolize. Questions I always ask: What smart phone do you use? Do you engage in brand wars? When you wear a brand? Marlboro man is perhaps the greatest example of this, Men didn't buy Marlboro just because they preferred the taste of the cigarette, they wanted to become Marlboro man. You see it even among some liberals who boast about buying fair trade coffee and a prius ( for the record I have no problem with people buying vehicles which reduce carbon emissions) but you can't deny the signaling going on there..
In politics, how a politician brands themselves is what matters, facts and their actual record come second. If voters can closely identify with the brand, even if a politician is selling them a six for a nine and is a total fraud, they'll cling to whoever. Again, it's self centered, because the perspective is: this person must be appealing to me in every single way and seduce me. Note in none of this is there awareness that it's not just about "you" the voter but other people too, your community, your district, your state, your country, other people's rights etc. In 2016 this selfishness was personified in the type of voter who would say "you can't blackmail me into voting for her by pointing out the risks to SCOTUS" <--- that selfish nutfuckery sums it up.
EDIT : Note I have no problem looking at voters, because we get a pass. Apparently it's all up to politicians, when if you want to know where a person stands on an issue, all you have to do is look them up online and be discriminating in your sources. Just go to their website. This takes less than an hour to do. Why not learn more about government , how it works? How bills get passed? What the judiciary committee is ( do you know there are people who thought Chuck Schumer could block Gorsuch's hearings???) I get the manipulation going on to dis-empower people , fuel apathy and disconnect them from making an impact on power structures, but honestly is it too much to ask that people just try to be informed -- We get this in every other aspect of our lives, when it comes to our jobs, our education, but some how in politics........???