Back to the Cave: Persuasion and Politics

When an attitude of identity politics predominates, political campaigns boil down to two main messages:

1. "This candidate is one of us."
2. "The other candidate is not one of us."

Some may argue that has always been the case but I'm not sure about that. Other political climates have favored messages such as "This candidate will get us out of a mess" and "This candidate will make us feel better" as well as a host of other messages. It strikes me that in recent years we have become much more divided and tribal. Despite the appeals of globalization, we are heading - smartphones in hand - back to the cave where tribal identification is everything.

That is not good news.