nisbetmc | September 3, 2008
Psychology buffs are probably familiar with the Implicit Association Test. In laboratory experiments testing for racial prejudice, subjects are timed in their matching of positive and negative words with either white or black faces. In these tests, whites overwhelmingly react more positively to whites and more negatively towards blacks (take the test here).
The reason is that many whites lack personal "real world" experience with blacks and instead much of their perception of blacks is colored by unfair media portrayals (see this report I authored last year.) The torrent of media images of…
nisbetmc | September 2, 2008That's the take in this recent profile at New York magazine. The far left blogosphere first stung Lieberman when his 2004 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination fell flat but then really turned him towards the GOP following his 2006 Senate primary race. In Lieberman's view, powerful bloggers have hijacked his party, especially on foreign policy. From the article:
The 2004 debacle was Lieberman's first introduction to a new force, the netroots, a loose collection of leftist blogs including MoveOn.org and DailyKos. The way the senator sees it, those groups have been "taking the party in…
nisbetmc | September 2, 2008When I first heard that McCain had chosen Sarah Palin to be his running partner, I expected there to be a revolt from the intellectual wing of the GOP party, the same thinkers who rebelled against Bush's choice of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court. Yet as it turns out people like David Brooks and George Will have both lined up behind the Palin pick.
The only voices of dissent from Republican commentators I have been able to turn up are from David Frum and David Gergen. In a column at Canada's The National Post, Frum calls the choice "irresponsible" and concludes: "If anything were to happen…
nisbetmc | September 2, 2008Palin has put support for creationism among GOP leaders on the media and public agenda. Everywhere in the news, GOP officials are being asked their position on the matter and in their replies they are sending the strongest of signals to a partisan public that support for creationism is part of the GOP DNA.
From a Washington Post article on how Palin is energizing the Evangelical base, Cathie Adams, the Texas GOP national committeewoman describes why she thinks Palin is so exciting:
Cathie Adams, Texas's incoming national committeewoman, said she is elated to have someone like herself running…
nisbetmc | September 2, 2008
The McCain choice of Sarah Palin has made creationism a topic that various GOP spokespeople are now being asked by the press to weigh in on. From the interviews, an emerging talking point appears to be that "it's a local decision." On Sunday, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty was asked by Tom Brokaw about Palin's position and his personal views on the issue. Video above and transcript below.
MR. BROKAW: Okay. In the governor's race, she refused to be specific about her views on Creationism versus evolution. But, as I understand it, she did say that she thought that the two subjects should be…
nisbetmc | September 1, 2008
Similar to Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal was heralded by conservatives as offering the belief credentials to be Vice President.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was interviewed by the Sunday NY Times magazine. In yesterday's edition, here's what he said about his support for teaching creationism in public schools:
Did you always want to be in politics? It was not something I anticipated doing. I always thought I'd go to medical school. I got accepted into medical school and did not end up going.
Where were you accepted? At Harvard.
Wow. Why would someone with so much knowledge of biology sign a…
nisbetmc | August 29, 2008From an interview this month with NewsMax:
What is your take on global warming and how is it affecting our country?
A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.
nisbetmc | August 29, 2008In running for Governor of Alaska in 2006, GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin said she supported teaching alternatives to evolution. When asked during an election debate, she said:
"Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both."
She later attempted to clarify her statement by saying in an interview:
"I don't think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."
She added that, if elected, she would not push the state…
nisbetmc | August 29, 2008
When you pick as a VP candidate someone who is inexperienced and unfamiliar with national politics, you don't know what you are going to get. Above, a look back at Dan Quayle's VP announcement speech in 1988 and then subsequent campaign gaffes.
nisbetmc | August 28, 2008
Gore endorsing Obama for the Democratic nomination during the primary campaign.
Standing on stage before a national TV audience at Mile High Stadium, Al Gore was a symbolic reminder of what could have been. He also delivered perhaps the best negative narrative about McCain of the convention. "I believe in recycling, but recycling Bush's policies is ridiculous," Gore told the 70,000 strong crowd.
Yet as I noted last week, what might be good for the convention and the Democratic party is probably not good for Gore's tireless work to mobilize a diversity of Americans on climate change. Indeed,…
nisbetmc | August 27, 2008If this National Review report is true, the GOP platform calls for making illegal all forms of embryonic stem cell research, even privately financed research. Definitely a story to watch.
UPDATE: Still can't find the full text of the platform but here is what the Washington Post reports: "In one controversial vote, the platform committee approved a total ban on embryonic stem cell research."
nisbetmc | August 27, 2008There's an anti-Obama documentary in release and don't underestimate its potential impact. McCain needs something to intensify his base and research shows that political documentaries--whether Fahrenheit 9/11 or Inconvenient Truth--are fairly good at mobilizing supporters and the already committed.
Not surprisingly, the anti-Obama film (which I won't link to) is getting a fair amount of buzz in the conservative media including the Washington Times which ran a story on Monday. Below is the analysis I provided for the story:
Matthew Nisbet, an assistant professor at American University's…
nisbetmc | August 27, 2008President Bush observing the disaster in New Orleans from Air Force One.
For a campaign that appears to be making all the right moves, Mother Nature might be the one variable that the McCain team can't control. As New Orleans prepares to evacuate three years to the day that Hurricane Katrina hit, Republicans should not be happy.
Indeed, it was Hurricane Katrina that sent the Bush administration's approval ratings plummeting. As I detailed in this blog post back in 2006, Hurricane Katrina suddenly made long standing claims that the Bush administration was out of touch with the facts on the…
nisbetmc | August 27, 2008
The people running John McCain's campaign know what they are doing. By linking their advertising strategy to the news narrative, they continue to successfully counter-punch against an anemic Democratic convention message. The McCain team opened the week with an ad featuring a former Hillary backer now pledging her support for McCain and telling others to join her. The ad immediately reinforced the distracting focus on the Clintons at the Dem convention while also seeking to break the "spiral of silence" among Hillary supporters.
Yesterday they followed with a somewhat clumsily edited but…
nisbetmc | August 26, 2008Adweek asked the creative directors at some of the country's largest advertising agencies to create their own mock up print ads for either McCain or Obama. Read and see what they came up with.
nisbetmc | August 26, 2008
"Well, if this party has a message it has done a hell of a job of hiding it tonight I promise you that," James Carville said on CNN Monday night (see ABC's The Note). "I look at this and I am about to jump out of my chair."
What Carville was referring to was the absence of a negative narrative about John McCain. There was emotion last night with Senator Edward Kennedy's appearance and Michelle Obama scored points by telling her personal story. But as Carville lamented, going back to 2004, the Democrats' streak of not bashing the GOP record at Democratic National Conventions now stands at…
nisbetmc | August 25, 2008
A McCain ad released today features a former Clinton delegate telling fellow Hillary supporters that she plans to vote for John McCain and it's okay for them to do so too.
Strategically, the TV spot looks to break what communication researchers call the "spiral of silence" phenomena, the tendency for a person to be less likely to voice an opinion on a topic if the individual feels that they are in the minority, for fear of reprisal or isolation from that majority. Derived in part from the classic Asch and Milgram conformity experiments, the theory holds that when individuals form an opinion…
nisbetmc | August 24, 2008
"New Evangelical" Joel Hunter (blue shirt) works with church members on a recycling campaign.
Evangelical leader Joel C. Hunter, a registered Republican, will give the closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, joining Al Gore and nominee Barack Obama on stage in front of 70,000 stadium goers.
Hunter opposes abortion and at one time had been chosen to lead the Christian Coalition. According to the Washington Post, for several years he has been at the forefront of a so-called "New Evangelical" movement dedicated to moving beyond the divisiveness of culture war issues.
"…
nisbetmc | August 22, 2008
Scientists are the most trusted spokespeople in America. Surveys show that they are the most admired profession and among institutions, only the military scores higher in terms of public confidence. Not only are scientists trusted authorities, the public strongly associates science with social progress and economic growth.
So when a company is struggling to tell its story and get its message across to the American public, it makes sense to turn to its scientists to deliver a message. It's basic branding. Just like companies pay millions to advertise and sponsor the Olympics, Exxon Mobil has…
nisbetmc | August 22, 2008That's the plan here in the nation's capital. From today's Washington Post:
Beginning in October, 3,000 students at 14 middle schools will be eligible to earn up to 50 points per month and be paid $2 per point for attending class regularly and on time, turning in homework, displaying manners and earning high marks. A maximum of $2.7 million has been set aside for the program, and the money students earn will be deposited every two weeks into bank accounts the system plans to open for them....
In justifying the program, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) said the city has spent an inordinate amount on…