The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency

by John Dickerson

When we aren’t self-tailoring our experiences, or moving in line with the herd, political strategists keep us in line through narrow casting. They use sophisticated targeting techniques to identify the issues about which we are most passionate or with which we identify most closely. If the issue you care about the most is abortion, gun rights, or the contribution of fossil fuels to climate change, you will be fed a diet of awful and alarming articles on that topic. This is red meat served for one, just the way you like it. If the issue we are most passionate about is kept in the forefront, we are less likely to swerve off and examine other opinions. Or we’ll make our candidate choice based on that issue even if it is not the objectively most important issue a candidate can address in office.