The Devil Made Me Do It

I could be wrong... I was thinking about John Travolta (see previous post) and I remembered something, which has made me question all of my self-important postings on the necessity of trust for persuasion on the Internet.

In 2002 the evil Jim Talent was running against the courageous and intelligent Jean Carnahan for Missouri's US Senate seat. Please note: I typically refer to Jim Talent by his nickname, "The Devil," but to retain my bipartisan appeal I will refrain in this post.

In an attempt to know my enemy I was perusing the evil Jim Talent's website and I came across an online chat he had held a few days prior. It was the typical "What will you do about X?" questions and his ultra conservative answers for the first few paragraphs. Then came an exchange, which I have reenacted below:

QUESTION: If you are elected Senator, will you raise your son's allowance?
TALENT: Scotty, is that you?
TALENT: I'm sorry; my son seems to be participating in this chat from the computer in the living room. He should be in bed now.
QUESTION: You didn't answer the question.
TALENT: Go to bed, Scotty! Or there is no allowance at all.
QUESTION: Good night.

Now, everyone with an IQ higher than a rock knows that was a total fabrication and yet it was oddly effective. In those few lines of text he went from being the evil, conservative, civil-rights hating, puppy-kicking Jim Talent to a cool, loving father. It was amazing emotional appeal that worked even though I knew it was just a ploy.

Since the most persuasive appeals are those based on emotion instead of facts, perhaps the Internet can be as effective as other forms of communication. I'll keep you posted if I decide to change my mind again.