No. of Recommendations: 9
Came upon this while reading reviews of Jill Lepore's "These Truths":
<snip>And there's the rub. Back in 1933 Clem Whitaker and Leone Baxter founded the first political consulting firm, known to critics as the Lie Factory. According to Whitaker, "The average American doesn't want to be educated; he doesn't want to improve his mind; he doesn't even want to work, consciously, at being a good citizen." "The more you have to explain the more difficult it is to win support." "Words that lean on the mind are no good. They must dent it. A wall goes up when you try to make Mr. and Mrs. American citizen work or think." "there are two ways you can interest him... and only two... he likes a good hot battle, with no punches pulled" and "he likes the movies; he likes mysteries; he likes fireworks and parades". "So if you can't fight, PUT ON A SHOW! And if you put on a good show, Mr. and Mrs. America will turn out to see it." Whitaker knew his stuff. He and Baxter won nearly every campaign they waged.<snip>
No. of Recommendations: 0
It kinda goes back even further. I recall in my history/civics in high school that elections way back in the 1800s were popularity contests. Who was the better husband, who was the better xian, who was the better American, etc. Very little talk of substantive issues.
In that respect, we're both better and worse today. We talk about issues, but not in-depth, and not without a lot of prevarication.
