Voting Myths

Any leader hoping to draw lessons from this book should start first by jettisoning any preconceived notions about how to connect with voters, consumers, and churchgoers, ignoring conventional wisdom and the false assumptions of pundits. This book debunks their many myths. Our findings include:

Myth 1: A company's product, a candidate's policies, or a pastor's sermons are the main appeal for most people.

Reality: People are looking first for a Gut Values Connection.

Myth 2: September 11, 2001, changed Americans.

Reality: The attacks did hasten change, but Americans had been transforming their values and lifestyles since the mid-1990s.

Myth 3: Technology has created a more disconnected nation.

Reality: Americans are using new technologies to build new forms of community and civic engagement.

Myth 4: The glut of information has made people more independent and less reliant on one another.

Reality: The Information Age and fragmented media have caused people to turn more often to peers for advice, giving rise to Navigators.

Myth 5: A vast majority of megachurch worshipers are antigay, antiabortion conservative Republicans.

Reality: Few megachurches are politically active because they don't want to turn off a single potential customer. A surprisingly large portion of megachurch worshipers are Democrats and independents.

Myth 6: The electorate is divided into Republican "red states" and Democratic "blue states."

Reality: Americans are highly mobile and self-polarizing, so it makes more sense to categorize them by their lifestyle choices rather than arbitrary geographic boundaries. We call them Red Tribes, Blue Tribes, and Tipping Tribes.

Myth 7: Republicans have a lock on exurban America, as shown by the fact that because Bush won 96 out of 100 of the fast-growing counties in 2004.

Reality: Democrats can win exurbia because voters in these new, fast-growing areas are driven by their lifestyle choices and values, not partisanship.

Myth 8: Americans slavishly vote their self-interest.

Reality: Their idea of self-interest is more selfless than most politicians realize. Voters will turn to a candidate who reflects their Gut Values over one who sides with them on policies.

Myth 9: The best indicator of how a person will vote is his voting history or views on abortion, taxes, and other issues.

Reality: The key to predicting how a person will vote (or shop and worship, for that matter) is his or her lifestyle choices. To borrow and bastardize a phrase from President Clinton's 1992 campaign -- It's the Lifestyles, Stupid.

According to the following quiz, I am barely a red tribe member. I tend to do what they are saying, vote for the candidate that view the issues that interest me the most in the same light. So, if they like guns, games, boobies, etc, they are okay in my book. :)