Buying into the Spin about McCain’s Foreign Policy Credentials
By Madison Powers
CQ Guest Columnist
Woody Allen once said that 90% of success in life is just showing up. Social scientists have known that this is true especially for some people. No matter how much knowledge, talent, or basis for credibility some people have in comparison to others, they often get unearned extra credit for what they say and do. They are judged to be smarter, more knowledgeable, and more trustworthy than others, even when it is not at all clear that any of these comparative judgments are deserved.
John McCain may well be one of those people when it comes to his reputation for foreign policy expertise.
Who gets unearned extra credit? Other things being equal, people who are taller or who have baritone voices are two such groups. Women who have read books of the “dress for success” genre know this story quite well.
Some recently reported studies show that men who have softer, rounder facial features rather than men who look more rugged and sexually self-confident tend to induce greater confidence among investors. The latter presumably have better success in other areas, of course, but who knows?
People who are simply more familiar to an audience generally gain a similar advantage. People get extra credit for just being around long enough, even if they really have done very little to earn the elder statesman title.
Just look at some of the ways the media have dealt with John McCain ’s claims to special expertise on foreign policy.
The conflict between Georgia and Russia gave the press another opportunity to give McCain credit where credit is not due. David Broder on “Meet the Press” was emphatic when he pronounced McCain as prescient in his assessment of the renewed threat posed by growing Russian imperialism and the autocratic tendencies Putin has displayed.
This is not exactly news, however. Articles in the mainstream press have been making these observations for years. The only obvious difference is that they weren’t made in interviews with David Broder, which is the subtext of Broder’s “gush to judgment.” To repeat what so many have been saying for so long is not a sign of being prescient. It merely shows that the speaker is sentient.
(Continued here.)
CQ Guest Columnist
Woody Allen once said that 90% of success in life is just showing up. Social scientists have known that this is true especially for some people. No matter how much knowledge, talent, or basis for credibility some people have in comparison to others, they often get unearned extra credit for what they say and do. They are judged to be smarter, more knowledgeable, and more trustworthy than others, even when it is not at all clear that any of these comparative judgments are deserved.
John McCain may well be one of those people when it comes to his reputation for foreign policy expertise.
Who gets unearned extra credit? Other things being equal, people who are taller or who have baritone voices are two such groups. Women who have read books of the “dress for success” genre know this story quite well.
Some recently reported studies show that men who have softer, rounder facial features rather than men who look more rugged and sexually self-confident tend to induce greater confidence among investors. The latter presumably have better success in other areas, of course, but who knows?
People who are simply more familiar to an audience generally gain a similar advantage. People get extra credit for just being around long enough, even if they really have done very little to earn the elder statesman title.
Just look at some of the ways the media have dealt with John McCain ’s claims to special expertise on foreign policy.
The conflict between Georgia and Russia gave the press another opportunity to give McCain credit where credit is not due. David Broder on “Meet the Press” was emphatic when he pronounced McCain as prescient in his assessment of the renewed threat posed by growing Russian imperialism and the autocratic tendencies Putin has displayed.
This is not exactly news, however. Articles in the mainstream press have been making these observations for years. The only obvious difference is that they weren’t made in interviews with David Broder, which is the subtext of Broder’s “gush to judgment.” To repeat what so many have been saying for so long is not a sign of being prescient. It merely shows that the speaker is sentient.
(Continued here.)
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