Have you decided who you’re voting for in this coming election?
If you already know, then the upcoming presidential debates may be your Super Bowl: you watch in the hopes to witness your candidate deliver an epic smackdown on the opponent. (Yeah! Go team!)
But isn’t the purpose of a presidential debate to help undecided voters make up their minds on which candidate may be the best choice for them?
Well, here’s what Wikipedia has to say about how debate works:
“Though logical consistency, factual accuracy and some degree of emotional appeal to the audience are important elements of the art of persuasion, in debating, one side often prevails over the other side by presenting a superior “context” and/or framework of the issue, which is far more subtle and strategic.”
But wait. There’s more:
“The outcome of a debate depends upon consensus or some formal way of reaching a resolution, rather than the objective facts as such.”
(emphasis mine in both quotes)
In other words, debates are about more than personality contests or laying down the facts. It takes the right combination to win a vote.
The Right Combination is when candidates:
- describe their framework for a particular issue,
- grounded in facts we believe and trust,
- laid out in a way that is logical and makes sense to us,
- and in a way that we can relate to and see ourselves in,
Then we tend to believe them. And vote for them. And when enough people do that, the candidate wins.
What now?
Now, I’m not interested in telling you who to vote for. That’s your decision. However, I do encourage you to make an informed decision… whatever that looks like for you.
So the next time you listen to “the sides” present their arguments – be they candidates on TV or colleagues in the board room – keep your feelers up for each of these four things listed above and pay attention to the areas that feel light to you. Ask questions and dig until you feel good about all four of those pieces. Then make your decision.
And if you’ve already made your decision, pass the cheesy poofs and let the games begin!
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Update, 4 October 2012
After watching the first presidential debate of 2012, I’d like to add something else to this list:
RESPECT. Respect for the debate moderator, respect for the debate’s rules, respect for the opponent and audience. So, to update the above list…
The Right Combination is when candidates:
- describe their framework for a particular issue,
- grounded in facts we believe and trust,
- laid out in a way that is logical and makes sense to us,
- in a way that we can relate to and see ourselves in,
- while being respectful to (at least) the debate’s moderator, format, and rules.
What would you add to this list?
