On September 21st, 2015, I blogged about the Iranian nuclear negotiations. I showed my evidence and my argument that Iranian President Rouhani is – like President Obama – a Master Persuader. And I predicted that Rouhani could persuade the real boss in Iran, Khamenei, to accept the deal.
Many of you thought Rouhani would have no chance of persuading Khamenei. But Khamenei accepted the deal.
0 CommentsLet’s say you’re a Democrat, and male, and you can’t imagine voting for a Republican. But at the same time, you can’t stomach the fact that Hillary Clinton is playing the Gender Card.
How do you vote?
0 CommentsIn late October 2015, Hillary Clinton started playing the gender card. I predicted that her support would start dropping after I heard her play that card in the televised debate.
See this graph of her dropping popularity with men in Iowa. That last drop-off in November starts soon after she went full-sexist. In the 2D world, it is a coincidence. In the 3D world, it was guaranteed to happen. (Because identity beats reason.)
That’s how Trump wins in a landslide if Clinton is nominated. Clinton’s brand as a Democrat depended on her not jumping the shark from equality to superiority, even if people think she is right that men are bad listeners. Clinton said other things about men too, but I wasn’t listening.
0 CommentsBecause I know you will ask…
In the 2D world of traditional politics, Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Donald Trump looks like a yawn because she’s seen by many as a policy lightweight. But in the 3D world of persuasion, where Trump lives, it is probably a home-run.
0 CommentsIf I asked you to rank your own intelligence compared to a specific dog, you would probably put yourself on top – with a confidence bordering on smugness – and rank the dog as a distant second.
I totally agree with your assessment, and I haven’t even met the dog in question. But here’s the interesting part:
The dog doesn’t know you’re smarter.
The dog might know you usually touch a thing on the wall when you enter a room after dark, and the room lights up. But the dog chalks that up to coincidence. Dogs see no need to overthink these sorts of things.
This brings me to Donald Trump.
0 CommentsIf your firewall is being run by the British Government, see the image on Twitter here.
Changing topics…
0 CommentsMost women in the United States believe they live in a patriarchy. Most men (as far as I can tell) believe they live in a matriarchy.
They can’t both be right. Right?
But they are both right. Because we all experience our own reality. As a wealthy, single male over 50, I live in a patriarchy bubble for sure. Let me give you a perfect example.
0 CommentsIn the United Kingdom, opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn – evidently a Master Persuader himself – made this clever offer to Donald Trump.
“I decided to invite Donald Trump on his visit to Britain to come with me to my constituency because he has problems with Mexicans and he has problems with Muslims,"
"As you know my wife is Mexican and my constituency is very, very multi-cultural so what I was going to do was go down to the mosque with him and let him talk to people there."
You can see more context here.
I call Corbyn a Master Persuader because he cleverly conflated Trump’s border security ideas into the word “problems” so it sounded all racist. Nicely done.
Corbin also took the high ground of social justice and political correctness. And like Trump often does, he created media bait. The press has to ask Trump about it because the topic is so gossipy and delicious for viewers. This serves Corbyn’s interests by distracting from any real problems he might have and placing him squarely on the offensive against a formidable political opponent.
Win, win, win. This guy is good. That is some A+ persuasion.
So what could Trump do to respond?
Obviously Trump would prefer to ignore it. But as a mental exercise, let’s say the press decides to ask Trump about it. See if you can think of a brief response, using the rules of persuasion that you have learned in this blog. When you have your answer in mind, scroll to the bottom for my answer.
0 CommentsIf I asked you to describe Donald Trump’s supporters in one word, you might say angry. As I have taught you in the Master Persuader series, if most people have the same explanation for a thing, they’re probably right.
0 CommentsIf your company firewall is being stubborn, see the image on Twitter here.
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