Fear factors greatly into how Americans vote

[ECH1969]

Rutgers University scientists say their research suggests some people voted for George W. Bush rather than John Kerry because of concerns about death.

Florette Cohen, a graduate student in social psychology and Daniel Ogilvie, a psychology professor, used research based on the 2004 presidential election. They found voters in a "psychologically benign state of mind" preferred Kerry to Bush, but Bush was more popular than Kerry after voters received a subtle reminder of death.

Citing an Osama bin Laden tape that became public a few days before the election, the researchers say many Americans' unconscious concerns about death resulted in some people being scared into voting for Bush.

The researchers collaborated with professors Sheldon Solomon of Skidmore College, Jeff Greenberg at the University of Arizona and Tom Pyszczynski at the University of Colorado.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20051221-16521600-bc-us-voting.xml

[FormerRepublican]

1. If they were worried about death, they picked the wrong President.

[Angry Girl]

2. They're putting millions into political message research

Just like the major corporations research the hell out of any ad they put before you, the same is happeningin politics, where the stakes are now basically the same: Put out the right message to make people act the way you want, whether it's pushing a button for a candidate or buying a can of Diet Poisonade.

Using M.R.I.'s To See Politics On the Brain
http://pcl.stanford.edu/press/2004/nyt-brain.html

[acmejack]

4. I have a friend who is a professor of Marketing Psychology.

It is a very sophisticated business. I was surprised initisally, but when I thought about it for a moment, not so much.

You're right, it's like entering the Daytona 500 with the sponsor wanted yugo (D) against the Karl Rove Racing Corvette (R)

[EFerrari]

3. There's only one problem with their argument.

Bush didn't win.

:rofl:

[Kurovski]

5. Thanks for that reminder, sfexpat2000.

It's still amazing that so many did vote for President Doom'n'Gloom of the DC crypts.

Seems it would have been a 65/35 split for Kerry if folks were in their right minds.

[EFerrari]

6. I will never forget all the people that didn't get to vote --

especially in Ohio. Long lines in the rain, alternate lines for students, the shredded reg forms, Blackwell disqualifying registrations left and right with impunity.

Those people were scared all right. They were scared of four more years of The Cabal. And, they were right.

[Angry Girl]

9. The Haitians wouldn't have put up with that kind of crap

So why did we?

[EFerrari]

10. Imho, because we've been systematically traumatized

for (at that time) four years. Traumatized people are risk adverse.

We're on the clock, here, or rather, they are. The farther from 9/11 that we get, the less they can jerk us around.

[Angry Girl]

11. Maybe, maybe but

I think the Haitians have been waaaaay more traumatized by their poverty and oppression than most Americans. However, I think you're right when you say we've been systematically traumatized into becoming risk adverse. I would define these echo boomers as being risk adverse, for sure. My husband and I marvel at the students at our local community college because they are the most controlled, unimaginative group of young people we have ever seen. They are petrified of thinking or acting "outside the box" and this problem comes up in class after class. Granted, this is Arizona, not exactly a Mecca of intellectualism, but still....

An interesting (and/or scary) article about these "echo boomers":

"They have been heavily programmed. The kids who have had soccer Monday, Kung Fu Tuesday, religious classes Wednesday, clarinet lessons Thursday. Whose whole lives have really been based on what some adult tells them to do," says Levine.

"This is a generation that has long aimed to please. They've wanted to please their parents, their friends, their teachers, their college admissions officers."

It's a generation in which rules seem to have replaced rebellion, convention is winning out over individualism, and values are very traditional.

<SNIP>

"When you ask kids, 'What do you most hope to achieve there?' Where they used to say, 'I wanna be No. 1. I wanna be the best,' increasingly they're saying, 'I wanna be an effective member of the team. I wanna do everything that's required of me,'" says Howe.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/01/60minutes/printable646890.shtml

[EFerrari]

12. When I was teaching in my capacity as a grad at Berkeley

my students seemed more conservative every year. (Sigh)

I agree that Haitians have more concrete troubles but 9/11 made us relatively vulnerable to the Cabal's predations. And those seem to me to only be an escalation of what the Thuggery has been working for these last forty years.

The down side is our situation.

The up side is that they have failed miserably once they got their wish, i.e., power and responsiblity. Both liberals AND true conservatives can't stand them. It's only a matter of time now, and the damage they can do in that time frame. Which may be considerable.

/clarity. maybe :)

[CarlosNH]

7. Unfortunately, the GOP

always plays the "safety and security" card to get votes. More unfortunately, many people give in to this fear. The GOP knows this and uses it to their advantage. Here's why it works:

<snip>

Safety needs
When the physiological needs are met, the need for safety will emerge. Safety and security ranks above all other desires. These include:

Security of employment
Security of revenues and resources
Physical Security - violence, delinquency, aggressions
Moral and physiological security
Familial security
Security of health
A properly-functioning society tends to provide a degree of security to its members.

Sometimes the desire for safety outweighs the requirement to satisfy physiological needs completely.

<snip>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs#Safety_needs

Even though a US person is more likely to get struck by lightning twice than be a victim of a terrorist attack, the GOP never fails to hit the "fear button" because they know it will trigger a response.

[Rex]

8. If people weren't so stupid

they would realise that OBL HELPED Bush win the election! Now why would OBL want to help his supposed arch-enemy?

[EFerrari]

13. I really don't think that happened. I think many people went to

the polls and voted to get this @sshole from hell who allowed 9/11 to happen outta there.

I don't think most people actually consume the propaganda. It's as much to freak out the opposition as it serves to sway the public.

That November, everyone but the hardcore KoolAid drinkers voted for Kerry. And the election was a POS.

We may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but we're never THIS stupid -- or this whole experiment would have ended long ago.

[Rex]

14. I live in South Texas and about 80% of the people I know voted

for Bush out of fear. It is real, but yeah our side would never fall for it. It's all just a dog and pony show. Wait til we go to war with Iran next month. People around here would accept it. :(