Push-Button Presidency

The second factor that looms large in the constellation of possible factors that explain Trump’s win is the number of people living in the low/mis/dis end of the information spectrum. Even for voters who had specific concerns about issues like the economy and immigration, how did they conclude that Trump was the best candidate to address those issues? The only “policy” plans Trump provided, like tariffs, mass deportations, and drilling, don’t even provide a pathway for addressing widespread voter concerns, like prices and border control.

Then there’s the hugely significant “The economy was better under Trump” Fallacy that’s demonstrably untrue. There is plenty of good information out there, but many voters ignored that information. Why do they allow themselves to live in a low/mis/dis-information state?

I think the simple answer is that people believe what they want to believe. They only take in the information that confirms what they want to believe (confirmation bias) and ignore all other information to the contrary.

So then the next question is: Why did people want to believe that Trump is the best leader for our country? Some ideas…

• They like him. He’s entertaining and fun.
• He makes them feel better about themselves and their lives. He harkens back to a time when they felt better about their present and their future.
• He’s the easy way out. No time to really understand the issues. Fuzzy memory coupled with impatience with how things are now.
• They’re uneasy about the idea of a woman president, and a woman of color no less.

My responses to each of these possible factors:

• Let’s put him back on The Apprentice then or on some other show which would allow you to be entertained by him on a regular basis. We don’t need an entertainer in the White House.
• By which pathways do you believe he will improve your personal life?
• There’s  no getting around it. To be a responsible voter is to be a well-informed voter. Do not allow yourself to be a low-informed, mis-informed, or dis-informed voter.
• Gender and skin color are not predictors of competence, morality, and intent. Use relevant information like past experience and actions along with current policy positions to evaluate candidates.

One sub-feature of the low/mis/dis-information axis I’ve formulated is the Push-Button Presidency Fallacy, the belief that all presidents have to do is push some magical buttons and problems will immediately be solved. Voters were frustrated with Biden for not making change happen more quickly when, in fact, real change takes time. A great deal of recovery from the pandemic plus investment in our future occurred during the Biden administration. But recovery and investment take time to manifest.

In contrast, Trump promises quick solutions to problems. However, his “solutions” are either ill-conceived, unrealistic, and/or characterized by short-term gains saddled with long-term losses. For example, yes the war in Ukraine could end pretty quickly if Ukraine gave in to Putin. But how would that not encourage Putin to continue his unprovoked and unjustified invasion of other sovereign countries?

It seems a search for easily accessible and unbiased informational news sources is in order to promote a cultural shift towards the more-fully-informed end of the information spectrum.