Just one more thing to think about as you ponder the fast-approaching election.
HRC's entire campaign is designed to capture the conformists. Yes, she would be the first woman nominated by a major party, but - you are being asked to GO ALONG with the group in voting for her (I'm With HER). You are NOT being cajoled to act against the group, in defiance of conventional wisdom. You are being assured that EVERYBODY is voting for her, so why not go along?
Trump, on the other hand, is appealing to the contrary element in America - those who are not ashamed to be different, those whose answer to the question, "Why can't you just do what everyone else does?" is "Why should I?"
This is a demographic that is not often a target of the GOTV efforts - only a few times have there come along candidates that pulled unengaged citizens into registering to vote, and going to the polls. One of them was George Wallace.
My father first registered to vote when Wallace came on the scene. No, he didn't vote for him because he was an incipient Nazi, nor did he long for those "Good Old Days" of KKK, lynching, and keeping "them" in their place.
Instead, he was drawn to the populist theme - that ALL should have to follow the same laws (no voting for busing by those who sent their own kids to private schools to avoid Blacks), that order is better than disorder (the Democratic convention rioting had an impact on him), and that the system was rigged against the average man.
Dad was likely able to stand firm against the crowd due to geographic accident - he was born and raised in West Virginia, a state that elevates the contrary thinker. Not going along may be part of the DNA of hill people.
I'm including a link to a new film about how easy it is to push people into dreadful actions, because the average person wants to go along. Keep reading to the end - there's a funny - but poignant - episode of Candid Camera, that shows how easy it is to exploit most people's desire to be a part of the crowd.
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