The Bully Party – The Dilbert Blog
Scott Adams is the author of the well known comic strip, Dilbert. Since the beginning of this election cycle, though, he has also covered and analyzed aspects of each [Trump and Clinton] candidates’ campaign from the peculiar lens of a person trained in the art of persuasion. As such, he praised Trump’s skills as essentially the best he’s ever seen from a politician. He called Trump’s primary win long before most took him seriously, citing the effectiveness of Trump’s branding combined with tactical wordplay that paints his opponents into a corner (see Low-Energy Jeb). In today’s post, he not only endorsed Trump, but predicted victory in the presidential election in a landslide. Scared?
Earlier in the semester, we talked about balanced networks. Networks are balanced either with all positive relationships, when everyone gangs up on one person/group, or when there are two large groups, with all positive relations within the groups, but all negative relations between the groups. In today’s election climate, that’s the sensation I get. People who are Trump supporters and proud of it will let you know they think Hillary is a crook. Clinton Supporters are largely the same, rolling their eyes before even listening to a dissenting opinion. Yet the Network isn’t balanced, there are undecided voters – lots of them. And the two camps differ in how they behave towards them.
It seems to me, that while Clinton appears to be significantly ahead in the published polls, Adams is confident the pollsters are either missing a lot of likely-voters, or many more people are undecided (and afraid to say they support Trump) than the polls show. Or both. Adams is making the case that the Clinton campaign’s attitude – the way Clinton supporters have cast a negative edge towards anyone not decidedly Hillary – will cost them. Trump supporters are often often over-the-top, don’t get me wrong, but Adams makes the point that at it’s core, the Trump campaign motto is, “Make America Great Again”, you have to admit it’s unifying. Meanwhile, I think #imwithher is fitting for the Clinton campaign. I’m with her and if you’re even considering Trump then you’re obviously irrational. “Stronger together” hasn’t caught on for a reason.
Come November 8th, we’ll see if Scott Adams is right. How the undecided voters react to the edges put forth by the two different groups may play a serious role. Clinton supporters’ out-group animosity could be their achilles heel, even if it’s a longshot.
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