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Buffett * Andreessen-Horowitz * Search The Washingto Submit ???initialComments:true! pubdate:10/31/2011 11:18 EDT! commentPeriod:3! commentEndDate:11/3/11 11:18 EDT! currentDate:2/4/12 4:0 EST! allowComments:false! displayComments:true! [spacer.gif] Facebookâs Zuckerberg and other tech billionaires [spacer.gif] Washingtonâs most romantic places [spacer.gif] Teaching you âHow To Be Blackâ [spacer.gif] Celebrities and the Super Bowl Marty Nemko The Big Idea Donât elect political leaders. Select them. Michel du Cille/THE WASHINGTON POST - Maryland voters cast ballots in the Mid-term elections for 2006. * Smaller Text Larger Text Text Size * Print * E-mail * Reprints By Marty Nemko, Marty Nemko, holds a Ph.D. specializing in the evaluation of innovation from the University of California, Berkeley and subsequently taught in its graduate school. This is the second in a series on thinking outside of the box when it comes to the nation’s leading challenges. It’s election season. Americans are, yet again, charged with choosing the best candidates to run the country. And we don’t like the choices. According to the latest Gallup Poll, 24-34 percent of Republicans have an unfavorable view of the top five Republican presidential candidates, and the incumbent president is liked even less. Among those polled from both parties, 46 percent would vote for a generic GOP candidate over President Obama. Loading... Comments * Weigh In * Corrections? The big idea Special series | Dr. Marty Nemko thinks outside of the box on subjects ranging from education and job training, to health care and politics. Archive Cast Your Vote More on this Topic * The big idea | Justice, reinvented * The big idea | College needs a warning label * The big idea | Thinking bigger on taxes * The big idea | Don't elect. Select. View all Items in this Story * The big idea | A waste of students' time * Follow Ideas@Innovations on Tumbl * Follow Ideas@Innovations on Tumbl * Follow @oninnovations on Twitter * Read more news and ideas on Innovations Meanwhile the candidates employ ever-more powerful weapons of mass manipulation. In the not-so-distant past, political candidates, had but a small public relations operation armed with little more than common sense. The team’s advice was as simple as, “Sound like a moderate. Smile more. Look straight into the camera. Speak in sound bites — you can never go wrong underestimating the public’s intelligence.” Weapons of influence were no more sophisticated than “I Like Ike” buttons and red, white and blue balloons at whistle stops. Today, the more influential the office, the more likely the candidates are to employ a squadron of highly sophisticated influence experts from Madison Avenue and academia. In April 2009, Time magazine reported on what may be the most sophisticated to date: the Obama campaign’s use of “a behavioral dream team” (including a Nobel Laureate). “These guys really know what makes people tick,” then-Obama campaign field director Mike Moffo told Time. Democrats aren’t alone. Indeed, the GOP, under the tutelage of Frank Luntz, may have made the first quantum leap in mass manipulation through the use of dial-equipped focus groups. Indeed, much of what major candidates say today is tested using dial focus groups. Groups of likely voters sit with a dial as the candidate tries out policy proposals, campaign rhetoric and talking points. They turn the dial from 1 to 10 from moment to moment. Then, with each sentence, the candidate tries to have the highest mean word-score possible. Luntz showcased the technique recently on an episode of late-night comedy show, “The Colbert Report.” Candidates’ commercials, press conferences, and speeches are not the only aspects of the campaign governed by this method. “Informal” town-hall meetings, press-the-flesh pancake breakfasts, and conversations with potential donors are also subject to testing. And technology makes it cheap for today’s politicians to inveigle themselves ever deeper into voters’ minds. Today’s successful campaign requires at least one General of the Online Front – a staff member who targets voters with email, Facebook updates, and Twitter posts. In the face of that, how can we hope that America’s electorate — regardless of their education level — will pick the candidates most likely to govern the nation wisely? How are we even to know what a candidate will actually be like in office? We don’t. Too often, we don’t end up voting for the best candidate but for the best messaging machine — the candidate who can most stay “on message.” In other words, we too often vote for the most data-mine-controlled marionette. * Continued * 1 * 2 * Next Page * Email * Tumblr * Reddit * Stumbleupon * Digg * Delicious * Discussion Policy | FAQ | About Discussions Loading... Comments Add your comment Read about the changes to comment thread appearance, moderation. Read what others are saying About Badges SuperFan Badge SuperFan badge holders consistently post smart, timely comments about Washington area sports and teams. More about badges | Request a badge Culture Connoisseur Badge Culture Connoisseurs consistently offer thought-provoking, timely comments on the arts, lifestyle and entertainment. More about badges | Request a badge Fact Checker Badge Fact Checkers contribute questions, information and facts to The Fact Checker. 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Sign in here Comments our editors find particularly useful or relevant are displayed in Top Comments, as are comments by users with these badges: . Replies to those posts appear here, as well as posts by staff writers. All comments are posted in the All Comments tab. More about badges Get a badge To pause and restart automatic updates, click "Live" or "Paused". If paused, you'll be notified of the number of additional comments that have come in. Comments our editors find particularly useful or relevant are displayed in Top Comments, as are comments by users with these badges: . Replies to those posts appear here, as well as posts by staff writers. * + SHARE THIS DEBATE [spacer.gif] Trove link goes here The Post Most: Innovation * Most Popular 1. Hackers take over Boston police website with 'OWS' message; Anonymous claims responsibility 2. 2nd LA elementary school teacher arrested, suspected of fondling 2 students 3. 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