DEBATE: Should We Vote With Our Minds or With Our Hearts?

Like many voters, I’m getting tired of political candidates trying to “move” me with shallow appeals to anger and outrage and through their carefully calculated wedge issues. Some chain-smoking political spin doctor is probably running focus groups right now aiming sharp jabs at my gut, hoping to snatch my vote in a weak, angry moment. But in my political fatigue, I have suddenly been reminded of an interesting thought developed by Chris Hedges in his excellent book Empire of Illusion (Knopf). Hedges observed a shift in American political/ electoral decision-making, a shift to decisions based on feelings as opposed to information. Part of this evolution involves a tendency to demean experts, to sneer at academics and shun book-learned “intellectuals” (how did that word ever become a pejorative?). Are Canadians being asked to make decisions based on feelings rather than information? Are we being urged to take the easy road, to listen to our guts instead of our heads? Feeling angry? Good. Frustrated? You have every right to be. Want to lash out at something? Vote for me. You’ll feel better. This approach to elections invites us to ignore who the candidates are – their character, their qualifications, their track records, and even their proposed solutions to all those things that may anger and frustrate us. It seems trite to remind fellow voters that right now we need to use our heads more than ever. We need to be alive to those attempts to push our buttons with angry questions. We need to stop and ask ourselves: “What’s going on here?” “Who framed this angry question for me?” Be mad if you must. Ignore your heart even. But think hard before you vote.

Mark, Let me get this straight – every three or four years you suffer information overload so you want voters to rely on a “Blink"-like assessment, take the easy road and vote with their hearts? When political spin doctors dream, it looks a lot like that. Gladwell cautioned readers in Blink to know that we are often careless with our powers of rapid cognition. We don’t know where our first impressions come from and we need to acknowledge the subtle influences that create or alter our biases. That is why I am very worried that right now our biases are being tampered with by politicians framing angry questions and concocting wedge issues designed to push that very blink assessment. Politicians and their advisors talk in terms of the “ballot box question.” In other words, what is the question I want to pose for the voter to answer. Sometimes that question is as simple as “Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago?” Sometimes it can be “Can we risk changing course in the middle of these difficult times?” Or is it “We are getting screwed by immigrants, criminals, and out-of-touch career politicians who are spending all our money. Should we throw the rascals out?” The democratic discipline needed by voters is to not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed with meaningless debates and platforms. Here is an alternative – look at the people running for office. Ask yourself “How are they trying to frame my view of the world? Is that a proposition based on anger? Is it a legitimate view? What subtle influences are they playing with?" Then make your assessment and follow your heart - but let’s hope your heart is following your head.