Democrats are heading into the homestretch of three special elections over the next month amid a national frenzy over the investigation into the possible connections of President Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russian interference in the election. Yet in all three races, Democrats have made a tactical decision not to turn […] Read more »
21st-century propaganda: A guide to interpreting and confronting the dark arts of persuasion
… The belief, or rather hope, that humankind is ultimately rational has gripped Western politics at least since Descartes, and inspired such 19th-century optimists as Thomas Jefferson and John Stuart Mill. “Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe,” Jefferson famously wrote. But in […] Read more »
5 Numbers That Say a Lot About the Election
Turnout in the 2016 presidential election, initially characterized as low, actually exceeded that of the 2012 race in which President Barack Obama won re-election. … And unsurprisingly, states that made it easier to register and vote usually experienced significantly higher turnout than states that did not. Those findings, and a […] Read more »
Bold Promises Fade to Doubts for a Trump-Linked Data Firm
Standing before political and business leaders in New York last fall, Alexander Nix promised a revolution. … Mr. Nix’s little-known firm, Cambridge Analytica, claimed to have developed something unique: “psychographic” profiles that could predict the personality and hidden political leanings of every American adult. “Of the two candidates left in the […] Read more »
For Marketers, TV Sets Are an Invaluable Pair of Eyes
… TVision — which has worked with the Weather Channel, NBC and the Disney ABC Television Group — is one of several companies that have entered living rooms in recent years, emerging with new, granular ways for marketers to understand how people are watching television and, in particular, commercials. … […] Read more »
The Political Cost of Obamacare
As Republicans gear up to repeal – and somehow replace – Obamacare, Democrats are digging in for a fight. Armed with a new slogan “Make America Sick Again,” Democrats are eager to portray Republicans as modern-day scrooges who are going to rip health care away from deserving and struggling Americans. […] Read more »