The first full night of the Republican national convention struck a theme that really bothers me, beyond just politics - it was all about Fear. So much of what we hear and see in society these days is marketed to us based on Fear, whether it is the products we buy or the politicians we vote for.
Off the top of my head, the following products all use fear-based advertising to differentiate themselves in the consumer's mind:
- Insurance
- Medical products
- Financial opportunities advertised in infomercials (worried about being able to pay the mortgage? Our proven home-based business opportunity offers financial freedom, etc.)
- Pharmaceuticals
- Autos (think crash-test ads)
- Republicans
Why Republicans? Last night's speeches were filled to the brim with fear-mongering: "we live in a dangerous world," "the stakes are too high too risk turning things over to inexperience," "only Republicans can keep us safe," "if you are not a Republican, you don't love your country," "only McCain learned the lessons of 9/11, that we have to stay on the offensive," etc.
This sounds disturbingly like "you're either with us or you're against us." We know how that turned out.
There wasn't a single mention of jobs, the economy, financial crises, mortgages, even though the economy is in meltdown - are they out of touch or out of ideas? The closest mention was to trot out the old bromide about making the Bush tax cuts permanent (you'd think this was the apotheosis of financial thinking based on how frequently it is cited as a cure-all for what ails our economy).
Instead of hearing about the economy, listeners instead came away thinking that we need a superhero to come along and save us from this dangerous Gotham we live in - hope McCain is getting fitted for a cape and tights right now ...
My sense is the country turned the corner a couple of years ago in the 2006 congressional elections, and in the contest between Fear and Hope, we've decided to embrace the optimistic side of our nature. The country is still deeply divided, as was evident in the anger in both conventions, but the tide of the undecided middle seems to have shifted.
