Member-only story
GOP Bets Crime Will Generate Fear & Votes — Will It Work?
The headline/subhead for the top story in today’s Washington Post is:
“GOP strategy elevates clashes over crime, race in midterm battlegrounds
“Republicans are increasingly centering their pitch to voters in the midterms on crime, prompting growing accusations of racism from some Democrats, but also worries that the attacks could resonate”
It will work. Here’s why.
Consider this thought experiment: You’re stopped at a light and a man walks up to your drivers’ side window and points a gun at you. Quick: What are the top three things on your mind?
Odds are they all have to do with avoiding danger and getting to safety. That’s because safety rests just above homeostasis (eating, sleeping, excreting waste, breathing, maintaining body temperature) on what psychologist Abraham Maslow called his “Hierarchy of Human Needs.”
When your safety is threatened — either in reality or vividly in your imagination because of a well-done political advertisement — pretty much everything else goes out the window. You’re not thinking about your friendships, your job, your term paper, your significant other: your mind is simply screaming “Get safe!” at you.
