What old is new
More often today, persuasion and marketing tactics are being used in the political arena. Democrats are increasingly using two of these tactics in fierce attacks on the Bush administration. Democrats are using tactics regarding the situation in Iraq, Gitmo, and the recent story about Karl Rove’s involvement in the exposed CIA agent case.
Democrats are using the tactics of the mere exposure theory as well as the halo effect to make the case to the American people that the Bush administration is moving the country in the wrong direction. The first example is Iraq. As the invasion ended and the occupation of Iraq ensued the situation on the ground began to deteriorate and no WMD’s were found. In an effort to attack the administration and better their position among the voters, Democrats began to circulate the idea that Iraq was quickly turning into another Vietnam.
Now most scholars would agree that there are major differences between the situation in Iraq, where there is a clear defined mission, and Vietnam, where a clear mission was lacking and the military was not fully engaged. But as many prominent democrats, such as Ted Kennedy, attempted to do was create doubt in the minds of the American people by attempting to convince them that Iraq was indeed another Vietnam.
This is where marketing and persuasion comes into play. By saying Iraq/Vietnam in the same breath they are using the mere exposure theory which states that people are more likely to accept something the more they hear it. The simpler version of this theory is "tell a lie enough times and people will believe it". The second part the marketing use is the "halo effect". This is simply transferring some credibility from one thing to another. This is usually done with celebrities endorsing products when the producer of the product wants the positive credibility of the celebrity transferred to the product.
However, democrats use this halo effect in the reverse sense. In the case of Iraq, they couple Iraq with the negative connotations associated Vietnam.
When the alleged abuses at Gitmo surfaced Democrats again undertook this strategy in an attempt to create a unified attack on the president. They believed that an attack on the administration on the alleged abuses would result in the dismissal of key senior administration figures, most notably Don Rumsfield. So many democrats came out saying that the alleged abuses reminded them of acts that Nazis had committed out some other evil regime. Again, democrats attempted to mention Gitmo/evil regimes in the same context to sway public opinion.
In the Gitmo case this backfired on the democrats. Many, including Senator Dick Durbin, were publicly ridiculed due to extremes that they tried to link soldiers at Gitmo to Nazis and others. But this was another example of the continuance of the tactic by democrats.
Recently the tactic became evident again with the increasing media coverage of the Justice Departments investigation into the leaked identity of a CIA agent. When it was widely speculated that the president’s deputy chief of staff Karl Rove was involved in the uncovering of the CIA agents identity, top democrats beat the drum of this adopted tactic. They began saying that this could be as bad as what happened in the Watergate scandal during the Nixson days.
This is an attempt to sway public opinion and drive down the president’s approval numbers in hopes of forcing the president into removing Rove, a clear and symbolic victory for the democrats.
I am not saying that this is the first time that these theories have been used, but what I am pointing out is that this a dramatic leap for democrats who are desperately grasping for leverage with the public. They are using extremes when comparing activities of the Bush administration to examples in history. This is just one more example of the democrat’s strategy of demonizing the administration. So, when will the polarizing of American politics cease, time will tell.
Democrats are using the tactics of the mere exposure theory as well as the halo effect to make the case to the American people that the Bush administration is moving the country in the wrong direction. The first example is Iraq. As the invasion ended and the occupation of Iraq ensued the situation on the ground began to deteriorate and no WMD’s were found. In an effort to attack the administration and better their position among the voters, Democrats began to circulate the idea that Iraq was quickly turning into another Vietnam.
Now most scholars would agree that there are major differences between the situation in Iraq, where there is a clear defined mission, and Vietnam, where a clear mission was lacking and the military was not fully engaged. But as many prominent democrats, such as Ted Kennedy, attempted to do was create doubt in the minds of the American people by attempting to convince them that Iraq was indeed another Vietnam.
This is where marketing and persuasion comes into play. By saying Iraq/Vietnam in the same breath they are using the mere exposure theory which states that people are more likely to accept something the more they hear it. The simpler version of this theory is "tell a lie enough times and people will believe it". The second part the marketing use is the "halo effect". This is simply transferring some credibility from one thing to another. This is usually done with celebrities endorsing products when the producer of the product wants the positive credibility of the celebrity transferred to the product.
However, democrats use this halo effect in the reverse sense. In the case of Iraq, they couple Iraq with the negative connotations associated Vietnam.
When the alleged abuses at Gitmo surfaced Democrats again undertook this strategy in an attempt to create a unified attack on the president. They believed that an attack on the administration on the alleged abuses would result in the dismissal of key senior administration figures, most notably Don Rumsfield. So many democrats came out saying that the alleged abuses reminded them of acts that Nazis had committed out some other evil regime. Again, democrats attempted to mention Gitmo/evil regimes in the same context to sway public opinion.
In the Gitmo case this backfired on the democrats. Many, including Senator Dick Durbin, were publicly ridiculed due to extremes that they tried to link soldiers at Gitmo to Nazis and others. But this was another example of the continuance of the tactic by democrats.
Recently the tactic became evident again with the increasing media coverage of the Justice Departments investigation into the leaked identity of a CIA agent. When it was widely speculated that the president’s deputy chief of staff Karl Rove was involved in the uncovering of the CIA agents identity, top democrats beat the drum of this adopted tactic. They began saying that this could be as bad as what happened in the Watergate scandal during the Nixson days.
This is an attempt to sway public opinion and drive down the president’s approval numbers in hopes of forcing the president into removing Rove, a clear and symbolic victory for the democrats.
I am not saying that this is the first time that these theories have been used, but what I am pointing out is that this a dramatic leap for democrats who are desperately grasping for leverage with the public. They are using extremes when comparing activities of the Bush administration to examples in history. This is just one more example of the democrat’s strategy of demonizing the administration. So, when will the polarizing of American politics cease, time will tell.
posted by Blogger | 10:53 PM
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