In a way, the closest branding parallel to today’s Republican Party is the punk movement. Punk emerged and grew as a sort of anti-statement, a counterpoint to popular culture, commercial marketing, and other forms of telling you what to think. Eventually, punk was coopted and commercialized. As the ironic California…
It’s Not a Party: Branding Eric Cantor’s Defeat
Last week, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his bid for reelection early, falling unexpectedly in the Republican primary to a “tea party” challenger — by an 11-point margin. At least, the press was close to unanimous that that was what happened. “Eric Cantor Defeated by David Brat, Tea Party…
Why Are White People Conservative? Part 3 of 3
The bigger your family, the more liberal it probably is. I’ve now used evolutionary psychology theory to help explain why populations with high proportions of immigrants (Part 1 of 3) and young people (Part 2 of 3) would be more liberal. Those conditions are more strongly associated with the Openness…
Why Are White People Conservative? Part 2 of 3
In my last post, I found that while psychological traits like Openness and Conscientiousness usually correlate with liberal and conservative ideologies, respectively, they don’t seem to correlate much with the ethnic groups that are most associated with those ideologies (Part 1 of 3). But immigration status isn’t the only thing…
Why Are White People Conservative? Part 1 of 3
While not every white person is a conservative, the polls show that almost all conservatives are white — and Latinos, African-Americans, and Asian Americans are all much more likely to be liberal. It could just be a cultural thing — white people do more frequently exhibit a worldview that values…
Political Fact Checking and the Science of Denial
How come people don’t believe in science? It turns out science can actually give us answers to that question — well, some of us, anyway. I read an interesting piece about that recently, which I found all the more interesting because of how it relates to fact-checking efforts in politics….
How Politics Disproves “Death of Brands” Sensationalism
Having information isn’t the same thing as processing it. That means there will always be a place for brands, both in politics and in commerce — because the power of brands comes from helping people simplify their decision making. Even so, you can always grab a few eyeballs by making…
Fact Check Death Match: Mythopedia vs. Factivists
In the last couple weeks, two liberal groups have launched unique branded programs to help push back against right-wing lies, correct the record, get the truth out there, etc. As the content lead for the 2008 Obama campaign’s Fight the Smears microsite and Obama Action Wire email program, here’s what…
It’s the Poor GOP Branding Carpenter Who Blames His Tools
If Republicans are going to fix their brand, it’s going to take fundamental organizational changes. Yet Republican branding thinkers — even those who recognize the challenge of making those fundamental changes — continue to recommend tactical changes to the tools Republican candidates and officials use that are pernicious in their…
Is the Conservative Info Bubble Good for Progressives?
I think the information bubble that caused Mitt Romney to be sure of victory when he was about to be blown out is dangerous. But what if it’s actually a good thing for progressives? That’s what Frank Rich seems to think: Rather than waste time bemoaning Fox’s bogus journalism, liberals…