Rules of politics
- Voters say that they want an honest candidate who stands for clear principles. In reality, most voters hate nothing more than an honest candidate who stands for clear principles but doesn't agree with them.
- People say that they hate negative campaign ads, but the truth is that they work. That's why politicians are so attracted to negative ads. They work because many, possibly most, voters are motivated more by dislike for the "other" side than they are by positive feelings for the candidate they vote for.
- Politicians have always distorted and oversimplified issues to try and get support. It's worse today because there are many more sources of information, but people have shorter and shorter attention spans.
- In the US at least, voters hate incumbents in general, but usually like their own incumbent, who is "not like the others". Since people all around the country think that way, most incumbents are reelected again and again.
- A good economy will make the sitting president popular, whether he has anything to do with it or not.
- A bad economy will make the sitting president unpopular, whether he has anything to do with it or not.
- When Americans feel threatened, constitutional guarantees take second place to the perceived security needs.
- The vast majority of Americans see their country as unique and different from all others. To an extent, people in every country feel that way, but it's probably stronger in the US than in many other countries. This leads to two kinds of nationalism - positive and negative nationalism. Positive American nationalism is the usual flag-waving type that believes that the US is responsible for most of the good in the world. Negative American nationalism is the view that the US is a malignant force that is responsible for most of the evil in the world. One thing both sides have in common is a tendency to assume that the US must be at the center of everything that is most significant in the world.
- People say that they hate negative campaign ads, but the truth is that they work. That's why politicians are so attracted to negative ads. They work because many, possibly most, voters are motivated more by dislike for the "other" side than they are by positive feelings for the candidate they vote for.
- Politicians have always distorted and oversimplified issues to try and get support. It's worse today because there are many more sources of information, but people have shorter and shorter attention spans.
- In the US at least, voters hate incumbents in general, but usually like their own incumbent, who is "not like the others". Since people all around the country think that way, most incumbents are reelected again and again.
- A good economy will make the sitting president popular, whether he has anything to do with it or not.
- A bad economy will make the sitting president unpopular, whether he has anything to do with it or not.
- When Americans feel threatened, constitutional guarantees take second place to the perceived security needs.
- The vast majority of Americans see their country as unique and different from all others. To an extent, people in every country feel that way, but it's probably stronger in the US than in many other countries. This leads to two kinds of nationalism - positive and negative nationalism. Positive American nationalism is the usual flag-waving type that believes that the US is responsible for most of the good in the world. Negative American nationalism is the view that the US is a malignant force that is responsible for most of the evil in the world. One thing both sides have in common is a tendency to assume that the US must be at the center of everything that is most significant in the world.