A generation of charismatic politicians has managed to persuade citizens to change the part of the body they vote for: from the brain to the liver. It has proved successful.
This Sunday, Türkiye did not vote for a reason. They re-elected a stupid and autocratic president who went against the world during a pandemic and plunged his country into 75% inflation and 150% devaluation. In his last political campaign, Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the central promise of ending the corruption of builders. Thousands of buildings collapsed and more than 50,000 people died in the February earthquakes. It became clear that his promise had failed. However, he won the second electoral round with about 53% of the vote.
How is it possible that Donald Trump appears very aggressive in the US presidential elections? It was proved that he wanted to stage a coup, it was proved that his election fraud claim was a lie from start to finish, it was proved that his wall promise was made to divert money, to be a tax fraud businessman He had a record as proven and worse, a rapist of women. It is not only in the media but also in the courts. Trump managed to get Americans to vote not with their brains, but with their livers. that they stop believing in hard data, that they close their eyes to evidence, and that there are other sources that drive them to the polls: a sense of belonging to the movement they lead, that they represent them Do and only he cares for them.
The same move has been successfully proposed by President López Obrador, backed by the state’s vast propaganda apparatus. He knows that the debate of arguments has lost him. Its opposite corners of the data. He promised to end corruption and it runs in his family as well. He promised to end the violence and last week it was official that we are on the cusp of six years in office with the most murders in history. He left the country without petrol and without medicines. Millions without health services. And his “great deeds” – as he was warned – are costing twice as much and are not working. He has lied continuously and has been openly exposed as a liar. It has also been proven that people who receive direct government funding for social programs are worse off because they have to pay for things that used to come free or cheap: medicine, food, health. Services etc. But AMLO has comprehensively won the sentiment debate. Many people believe him just because he says so, even if it is not true. And they cover their eyes and ears before the evidence because they like what AMLO makes them feel, it represents them and it is not trivial.
These characters have managed to maintain an electoral base that allows them to do practically anything and be able to win elections. They polarize with strategic issues so that the base defends them with everything, even if the other is an extremist. His political opponents often fall into the trap and let him set the agenda, fueling polarization and not changing priorities. They are happy in their comfort zone. His rivals should learn: It’s not about complaining and berating the voters’ decisions, but about debunking the narrative of lies.
