Heart vs Brain

How could any one not write about the presidential race nowadays? It's everywhere and that's how it should be. After all, this nation of ours is about to choose the next leader of our country and the person who will be the next leader of the free world. From a communication standpoint, it is fascinating to listen and watch the appeals being made by both parties as they strive to generate support. Basically, I lump their messages into two primary categories: ones that appeal to our emotions or the heart and ones that appeal to our intellect or brains. Sometimes, of course, they try to do both as was the case in Senator Obama's acceptance speech at the recent democrat convention. On the other hand at the republican convention, his opponent, Senator McCain, attempted to push our emotional buttons much like his running mate, Governor Pulin, did the previous night.

Which is the most effective strategy? Appeals to the heart? Appeals to the brain? Both? When alone in the voting booth, do voters vote with their hearts or their heads? More to the point, do people make good decisions when they act only with their heart or head? Ideally, the heart and the brain are supposed to be a team. But when one member of the team is left on the bench, then the odds of good decisions being made are reduced. Is this what our candidates want? Sadly, it would seem so. Even a quick review of presidential campaigns over the past 45 years reveals blatant attempts by candidates from both parties to push our emotional buttons. The examples range from Lyndon Johnson's 1964 ad with a little girl and a nuclear explosion to George Bush's 1988 Willie Horton ads to George W. Bush's 2004 wolves-at-the-door ads.

Of course, a strong, emotional message can be quite effective. These three ads are examples of successful emotional appeals. But just because a candidate makes an emotional appeal does not mean that same message needs to be received in an emotional way. Receivers of a message are just as much in control in any communication exchange as are the senders. Between now and election day, there is little doubt all of us will be overwhelmed with emotional appeals. As we process them, let us do so with both heart and brain. Too much is at stake for us not to utilize all of our inner resources as we determine who and what are best for our nation.