THINKING vs. FEELING
How It Will Affect the Election
What do you think about President Joe Biden? How do you feel about him? What about Trump? How we think and how we feel about the candidates and their political parties will influence how we vote in November, but will we vote on knowledge or emotion?
Like about half of this country’s voters, I think Joe Biden is doing a surprisingly good job leading our government. He could have retired comfortably many years ago but chose instead to bring his decades of experience in government and international affairs to a leadership position that had been nearly destroyed by his predecessor. President Biden is not motivated by a need for money, power, or glory but is confident enough to surround himself with highly competent people who know how government should work.
When I think about Trump, I see the polar opposite: a deeply insecure, functionally illiterate, crass, mean-spirited thug, who desperately craves power and glory, not by earning it but by forcing others to cede it to him. His reelection to the presidency would destroy not just our democracy but our economy, and the fall of the United States would take down the entire world economy and culture. My position may appear to be extreme, but it is based on a long life of study and working both inside and outside of government.
How do I feel about Joe Biden and Trump? Neutral. I have no feelings for either man. I don’t hate Trump; I see him as a deeply troubled soul who should never be allowed to govern again. I don’t love Joe Biden; I just love what he has done for our government, our economy, and our country. The electorate is divided, though, not only by progressive thinkers versus conservative thinkers, not only by Democrats versus Republicans, and not by education, ethnicity, or family heritage. No, our nation is divided into two groups: those who base their votes on reasoned thought and those who vote their feelings. And if the Democrats intend to win the next election, they need to focus more on how people feel as well as how they think.
Trump makes his followers feel good. He tells them they are special, that they are much smarter than the educated elites who hate him, and that they are superior to people who don’t look like them. And he makes them feel they belong to a community chosen by God. Chauncey DeVega, writing on Salon this week, describes how Trump’s rallies now end on a religious note, with a “…15-minute finale that evokes an evangelical altar call, the emotional tradition that concludes some Christian services in which attendees come forward to commit to their savior.”
Ms. DeVega also cites a passage from the Nuremberg Municipal Museum’s website: “First and foremost, the Nazi Party rallies appeal to the participants’ and spectators’ emotions. Here politics are conceived not as something to be thought out and understood, but as an ‘experience’.” Trump’s game continues to derive directly from the Nazi playbook.
The Biden administration actively promotes its stunning success on a daily basis but doesn’t get the press coverage it deserves. Quiet competence doesn’t excite people or draw viewers. The United States has the strongest economy in the world, with the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, the lowest inflation rate of any open government, and the strongest stock market ever. All great news, but nothing to stir any emotions.
The majority of voters think the economy remains bad because the costs of food, housing, and electricity have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, although wages of working people have risen dramatically. They also think Joe Biden has failed to protect the country’s borders, even though he agreed to sign border control legislation that was drafted by a bi-partisan committee and that included all of the Republicans’ demands. And they feel he has failed internationally because they do not understand the complexities of international relationships.
Not that the Democrats should promote Joe Biden as a savior from on high or create a cult-like image of him, but they need to devise a strategy that makes people feel good about their party. Perhaps it’s time to take back the mantle of patriotism that was stolen by the Tea Party decades ago. Look back at the way our country came together to fight the Nazis in 1941. Wrap the party in Old Glory and boldly lead the charge to destroy the Nazi threat once again. As I have written before, the election this year will not be simply a popularity contest between two old men; it will be a life-or-death battle between democracy and neo-Christian authoritarianism. Surely, there is a way to make people feel good about that.