High Information Nonsense

This is something I've talked about quite a lot on this blog, but I found a great example yesterday.

First off, Voters are stupid, well-informed voters are more stupid. Ezra's understanding of how people actually make decisions seems pretty spot on*:

The Rationalizing Voter: "There are basically three theories of how voters think about issues when casting their ballot for a candidate. The first is 'policy-oriented voting,' in which a voter examines the various candidates on offer and votes for the one whose policy proposals most closely match the voter's own preferences. The second is 'persuasion,' in which the voter alters their own opinions to more closely conform with those of the candidate or party they favor. And the last is 'projection,' in which voters convince themselves that the candidate or party they favor really does possess the same beliefs that they do.

Sadly, persuasion and projection are much more common than policy voting. Voters aren't stupid. They're just much more committed to political parties and candidates than they are to issues. And we're not talking about the faceless rubes in the hinterlands. The effects of partisan bias actually become stronger as a voter's level of political information rises. High information voters, then, are actually more likely to warp their opinions based on their political allegiances"

So, how are we to interpret an Obama Organizer making this argument:

Joe Biden is chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I trust him to keep us safe.

A. Policy — a fervent Obama backer (since the primaries) likes a VP who voted for the Iraq war, supported sending ground troops to Kosovo, and has 35 years of Washington Experience on pure policy grounds.

B. Persuasion — the Obama backer has become persuaded that Joe Biden's qualities (Washington experience, working-class roots) are the qualities needed in a VP because Obama picked him.

C. Projection — the Obama backer is unfamiliar with Biden's Hawkish record and is projecting his own views onto a trusted party leader.

I supported Biden because I hoped he'd be a bigger dick than Obama (a hope that has not yet born fruit, I might add), and I saw his foreign policy history as a necessary compromise, given that much of the party's leadership is similarly tainted. But to take it as a reason, nay the MAIN reason, to support Biden, well, that requires some major rationalizing and psychological sorting mechanisms.**



*It is, of course, possible for people to have even stupider reasons for voting the way they do.

**Of course, there's always option D. Cynicism — the Obama backer is willing to say and do anything to win the election, and was making an argument that his audience would accept...