All projects: Gel, Jobs, Gootodo, Games, Uncle Mark, Goovite, Blog, Bit Literacy
The "experience" of Obama vs. Hillary
Feb 8, 2008
NYT's David Brooks on the difference between Obama and Hillary (emphasis mine):
Hillary Clinton is a classic commodity provider. She caters to the less-educated, less-pretentious consumer. As Ron Brownstein of The National Journal pointed out on Wednesday, she won the non-college-educated voters by 22 points in California, 32 points in Massachusetts and 54 points in Arkansas. She offers voters no frills, just commodities: tax credits, federal subsidies and scholarships. She’s got good programs at good prices.
Barack Obama is an experience provider. He attracts the educated consumer. In the last Pew Research national survey, he led among people with college degrees by 22 points. Educated people get all emotional when they shop and vote. They want an uplifting experience so they can persuade themselves that they’re not engaging in a grubby self-interested transaction. They fall for all that zero-carbon footprint, locally grown, community-enhancing Third Place hype. They want cultural signifiers that enrich their lives with meaning.
(thanks, scott)
Neat link. Curious that he didn't go for the obvious analog:
Barack Obama == Target; Hillary Clinton == Wal-Mart.
watching elections in poland 2005 i realised that in politics margin does not matter;-) its like in music - similar price per one copy of an album. it matters to reach a broad market.. in 2005 it's the walmart-like party that won elections in Poland and almost all educated people voted for the other one.. differentiation might not be enough if not everyone can "catch his jokes"..
WOW. You nailed it.
I keep wavering between the two and find myself swaying towards Obama. Which is strange for me, because I'm one of those people who need proof to believe something, and by that logic I should be swaying towards Clinton and her years of experience. But when I watch her speak, I feel like I'm at a college lecture.
It's obvious to me now why I sway towards Obama. The NYT article summed it up perfectly.
I guess, for me anyway, it comes down to the GOOD experience (emotion) over the ACTUAL experience (record.)
thanks for pointing out that the emphasis was yours. i was about to write to the nyt about the difference in tone seems when speaking about clinton vs obama. though i agree with both assessments, i disagree with the cynicism in the obama description - ie. they all fall for that...and educated people get all emotional...vs the pride i sense in the clinton assessment. it's pretty slanted.
"educated people get all emotional..."
???
People for whom eduction actually TOOK wouldn't vote for either of Billary or B. Hussein O'b.