The political left is currently engaged in a hair-tearing ritual of wailing angst regarding the number of Americans who somehow believe that George Bush has their best interests in mind. Even the most casual glance at Bush's performance should surely give lie to the notion that Bush is a "good guy" who has any concern whatsoever about the welfare of regular Americans.
So how, we moan, do we convince the political center that Bush isn't what he professes to be and that the Democratic party is the one that is really looking out for them?
Fortunately there is an entire field of art and science dedicated to such problems and we might be advised to pay attention to the accumulated wisdom therein.
That field is called SALESMANSHIP.
Much of my career has been spent in sales and sales management and I've seen this sort of thing before, and it is a problem that trips up budding salesmen everytime.
The novice salesman will often approach the customer (voter) with the erroneous assumption that he is a blank slate - that he is eager and willing to compare your product (candidate) with the competition and make a judgement based upon the facts and the strength of your presentation.
But the customer is seldom a blank slate. In fact, the standard case is where you are addressing someone who has already developed some preference for your competitor's product. Before you can sell him your product you must first "de-sell" him from his current preference. Tricky.
And Away Egos...
This is tricky because the customer has an ego-based investment in his existing preference. He chose your competition for reasons that seemed sound at the time and, I guarantee you, he felt proud of himself for his wisdom and judgement in that choice. Changing his mind involves admitting that he made a mistake and it is the most human of instincts to retreat into screaming denial at the merest suggestion of one's fallibility.
When confronting such a customer, the salesman's rule is to "never bad-mouth the competition." To do so is, in effect telling the customer that he chose wrong and is therefore a moron. He tends to react badly, trust me here. He retreats into full defensive mode and rejects not only your message, but also the messenger. The result is bodily ejection from the front lobby and an enduring dislike that makes further sales opportunity unlikely.
In fact, the customer, in order to protect his ego, is actually quite likely to harden his support for his previous decision. You just lost the sale. In the political case, you've just made a dittohead.
Beyond stupid
So how do you reach someone with the facts and with a rational argument without calling him stupid for failing to see simple reality when it was staring him in the face? The answer is: The customer (voter) cannot be "told" the truth - he has to find it out for himself.
To do so, he needs an honorable way out of his previous mistake. He needs to be able to say, "Oh, if I had only known then I would have chosen differently." He has to see changing his mind as a result of his own intelligence and his own processing of new data. He has to feel smarter for making the new choice.
In short, the customer (voter) has to ask ask himself new questions and provide his own answers. Your job as a salesman is to lead him, not to the correct answers, but to the right questions.
Selling
You might be tempted to say to your conservative friend, "Bush's tax cuts are just payoffs to his rich friends. He's an evil man who's trying to screw you, you idiot!" This, however satisfying it might feel, is widely considered to be poor sales technique.
Consider this alternative approach:
"You know, I just can't figure out how all these tax cuts for the upper income brackets are going to increase jobs for regular people."
[Standard, silly, conservative response here]
"Oh really, but why would corporations and investors use their tax savings to create new jobs when profits would be higher if investing overseas?"
[Standard, silly, conservative response here]
"Sound reasonable, but if that's the case, why have we lost three-million jobs since the tax cuts have been in place?"
[Standard, silly, conservative response here]
"Well, it is certainly a complicated subject, we ought to think about it and talk some more later."
Finally, and most importantly, STOP NOW. Don't insist on winning the argument, his admitting defeat will only seem to be an admission of stupidity. Leave the questions floating around in his head for him to answer himself. Next time you talk, ask him if he has given it any further thought. If not, walk away. If so, rinse, lather, repeat.
Now I don't mean to imply that this is the only technique for convincing a Bush leaner to see our side of things. But my point is that you can't change someone's mind for him - they have to do it on their own.
Anger Management
So you might assume that I'm arguing against a passionate approach to political discourse. I'm not. But you have to be aware of who your customer (voter) is and what his state of mind might be.
If he's already angry at the loss of jobs, the Iraq situation, the loss of civil liberties, etc., but is confused by the collosal con job that the Bushies have perpetrated upon him, then by all means go for the jugular. If your target is drifting around in a fog of complacency, hit with all the passion you can muster. If you're trying to rouse the convinced to a new level of activism, show your anger proudly.
But if you're trying to win over someone who has already bought into the Bush lies, you need to let them arrive at truth their own way.