The Elements of Persuasion

You Can't Handle the Truth

I was a little uncomfortable the other evening as I drove the narrow winding roads to a dinner party atop the Hollywood Hills. I quickly attributed my discomfort to navigating the narrow two lane blacktop as Italian sports cars and German SUV’s hurdled down the mountain toward me. Maybe I should have dug deeper and paid more attention to why I was really feeling that way.

 I had been invited to the home of Keith Ferrazzi

If you don’t know already, Keith is the author of the best seller “Never Eat Alone.” http://nevereatalone.typepad.com/ He was throwing a dinner party for about a dozen guests who were extremely accomplished in a variety of fields as diverse as hi-tech, economics, art direction and fashion. The big question bubbling up in my mind was, “Why was I invited?” This feeling was quickly swallowed down with the first sips of chilled, expensive wine.

 As we sat down for dinner, I noticed little square cards at each of our place settings. I turned mine over and read, “If you could go anywhere in history where would you like to go?” I realized that everyone would be asked questions during the evening and that’s when my discomfort came back. I felt like a longshoreman was wrapping his huge hands around my stomach and squeezing with glee. Soon enough Keith was asking people around the table to answer the question on their cards.  I focused on what I would say, thought about ancient Greece, how cool it would be to hang with Socrates and hear him say, “I know I don’t know anything and even that I don’t know.” Socrates was my pal because that is exactly how I felt and I couldn’t wait to give my answer.

 Keith looked at me as if he knew what I was thinking and said, “I want Bob to go last and I am going to give him another question.” My mind raced, “Why the hell am I going last?” and “Is Keith playing with me?” I felt like a tiny grey mouse sitting at a cat convention. Now those dreaded words: “Bob, what is it that hurts you?” Everyone turned and looked as I mumbled something about what an old acting teacher had told me about fear…

Soon after dinner we adjourned to the patio. I walked to the deck, which jutted out over a cliff, and gave the guests a god’s eye view of a dazzling city. I wanted to go home. As I thanked my host, Keith turned to me and said I had copped out and not told the truth.  He was right.

What was the truth? So obvious now and so obscured earlier: I felt inferior to everyone there and especially to Keith. I could not admit it and that had locked me away as sure as jail time in Sing Sing. However, in my case I was my own jail cell and jailer.  I had forgotten that I held the keys to my freedom and on those keys were inscribed “The truth shall set you free.”

 

DREAM TEAM II

First a major caveat: The five-element story model is descriptive, not predictive. It can tell you the strengths of a candidate’s story, but it can’t tell you what a candidate will do next. Still, knowing “the elements of persuasion” can help predict which story is likely to prevail in the long term “story war” that is a political campaign, and so suggest smart strategy.

So why would Obama-Gore be “the dream team”?

Because Gore brings the missing element to the Dem story. The one I’ve been waiting for. Awareness. And that can make all the difference. Awareness corresponds to the element air. It is the moment in a story when the Hero understands what they need to do to prevail. It leads to specific actions.

It is one thing to believe in change, something else again to actually know the levers of power well enough to make it happen. Thanks to eight years of carefully politicized appointments the government's bureaucracy is now actively malignant (if it wasn’t before that). Someone is going to have to roll up their sleeves and dive in to fix things. Gore, who headed up the “streamlining of the government” during the Clinton years knows the basic architecture. And he has shown himself comfortable with being in the number two slot. Plus he has spent years working on how to address our biggest problem – the environment – while at the same time stimulating the economy and rebuilding our energy infrastructure so his approach will have focus.

Better yet, from a tactical perspective - which is where the Obama campaign excels - putting Gore on the ticket allows Obama to open up a line of attack on the Repubs that his campaign against Hillary almost closed off.

I’m talking about the classic: “Are you better now than you were eight years ago?” That is the question Dems want voters carrying into the voting booth in November. And Gore personifies it.

So what do you do for Hillary? After her GREAT concession speech she deserves something. My suggestion – the Supreme Court. If there is one position that will allow her to continue her fight for universal equal rights, that is it. Plus, it will be fun to watch Justice Alito’s head explode when he has to argue with her on the bench.

THE DREAM TEAM

I don't have enough time to actually complete this post - but I have heard a rumor that is so hot I have to post it right now. The dream team? Obama Gore. Obama for president, Al Gore for veep. And I have heard from someone in a position to know that it is actually being considered on both sides. Is this a great idea or what? Keep posted.

And yes, I know I am a Gore Head and feel free to think of this as obsessive. It defintely is not a done deal. Still, it is very tasty.And I'll say why later teoday.

ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTING

With his loss in South Dakota Barak Obama accumulated the magic number of delegates to win the Democratic Nomination of the first ballot – theoretically. And the media says it is in the bag. Of course, they have been saying that for months. And may be it is. But for a campaign whose slogan is “Change We Can Believe In” the Obamistas seem deeply certain that none of their over 2000 delegates will change their minds in the long months until Denver, months in which McCain will begin his attacks and Obama’s responses will be judged.

Remember that none of the Super Delegates are legally bound to vote the way they say they will when talking to the press. And most of the elected delegates are not legally bound to vote the way they said they would on the ballot. As Yogi Berra said “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” And it ain’t over until the Convention calls the role, counts the votes, and all those balloons drop. It IS all over but the shouting, but shouting is what a good convention is all about. That and silly hats.

As the Dem activist ladies chanting “McCain ‘08” in front of the DNC rules committee Saturday made quite clear, it could be a very fractious convention. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned – unless of course it is 18 million of them. And I'm not sure even Hillary in full compromise mode can control that. This is actually a very good thing for the Dems.

Why? Because so far there really hasn’t been a clear moment of Dem awareness. The penny hasn’t dropped. Until that moment no real transformation can occur. I’ve been looking for it; I’ve been waiting for it, but haven’t seen it yet. But we will see it as the smoke clears. And that will be what we are dealing with as the blog gets back into gear.

In the mean time there were THREE important speeches last night, and TPM Election Centraol has all three. Hillary ,Obama and McCain. Check them out. They are the tea leaves from which the future can be read. You can see them by clicking over.