Why Is Obama So Appealing?

What are the reasons behind the appeal of Barack Obama? Pragmatists may speak of his campaign organization and leverage of cyber-space tools, but the fact is that the candidate himself must have some sort of appeal. Otherwise the candidate will be unable to raise the funds needed to support campaign organization and cyber-space. The reason given most often for Obama’s appeal is his speeches, but his critics say Obama’s speeches are empty of content.

I think there are some very structural reasons why Obama’s speeches have the appeal they do. I will cover those in a bit, but first I want to talk about why Obama’s speeches are so appealing to so many Democrats and Independents (even some Republicans) and not to others. The key to that appeal resides in one of the political self-awareness exercises in my book.

When I give talks to groups, I put them through an exercise using a four quadrant chart. Those of you who have read my book will know what I’m talking about. To keep this short, I’m going to use a simpler example than the actual one in my book. If any two parties are trying to seek an agreement between them, there are basically four outcomes to be had. Those outcomes are Win/Win, Lose/Win, Win/Lose, and Lose/Lose. Of all those outcomes, the best is Win/Win and the worst is Lose/Lose. From all the talks I have given all over the country, I can only remember two people who would say they would seek a political solution other than Win/Win. Here’s what this means to you and political awareness for yourself and other people.

Obama offers a message that is Win/Win. So, just as a piano string will vibrate in response to striking the proper tuning fork, his message resonates with people looking for a Win/Win message. Further, there are many, many people who have been looking for a Win/Win message instead of having to settle for a Win/Lose or Lose/Win message.

So now you ask me this. If almost everyone tells you they want Win/Win politics, then why isn’t everyone for Obama? There’s a simple explanation.

People lie. They lie for several reasons. Here are two of them.

First, if you know about the Abilene Paradox, then you know that people are very reluctant to express their true feelings in a group setting. People are fearful that other people will think less of them for having a contrary opinion, so they don’t speak up.

Second, I go back to what I wrote about in my last Ezine. People like a solution which makes them feel superior to other people. Solutions like Win/Lose reinforce their self esteem. If you’re one of those people and you hear a solution whereby the other side is not going to lose, then that solution does not resonate with you. Again, if you hear people say that Obama has nothing to offer, then you are probably talking with someone who prefers Win/Lose over Win/Win.

Many of us have been trained by the modern workplace to seek Win/Win as a superior solution. The fact Win/Lose has such dominance in politics is a reflection of how far we have to go in our political thought and process.

Next week I’ll talk about why the structure of Obama’s speeches makes them so effective.

Thanks Again to Radio

I want to say thank you again to all the radio hosts who’ve had me on their show, both new and old. Yesterday, for example, I had the honor of being on Michael Dresser’s Show. Michael broadcasts out of Milwaukee into 41 different markets. I appreciate their taking a chance on a new message their listeners haven’t heard a lot.

As I often say on those shows, we need to confront our reality. I don’t care where you are on the political spectrum or what political label you apply to yourself. The fact is that the political system we have has allowed us as a country to become over $9 Trillion in debt. That’s $30,000 each (EACH!) for every man, woman and child in this country. When we have a system that is delivering us results like these, then maybe we all need to think about changing that system.

Today is March 4th. I hope you will march forth and join me in this effort.

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