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« Traffic Signals | Main | Race To the Bottom on Immigration »

Feelings vs. Reason in Voter Choices

Terrence McNally has posted an illuminating interview with Drew Westen, author of this year's influential political strategy book "Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation." McNally's intro to the Alternet interview notes Kenyan journalist Charles Onyango-Obbo's incisive summary of Westen's book:

Westen has studied elections over the years, and found an inconvenient truth: People almost always vote for the candidate who elicits the right feelings, not the one who presents the best arguments

Of course Westen also summarizes his book in several exchanges throughout the interview and provides some alternative responses for Democratic candidates. See also TDS's posts on Westen's book here and here.

Posted by staff on October 24, 2007 10:14 AM

Comments

Ah---this makes the point better than I did in the comments on Ed's post about "triagulation" and Senator Clinton - perception or "feelings" trumps reason

Posted by: Tiparillo [TypeKey Profile Page] | October 25, 2007 07:47 PM

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