It is a very effective infomercial.
He stands in front of a group. Talks and then answers three or four questions. It is the way New Hampshire town meetings work.
Yang's big promise: $1,000 per month per adult, for life. For free.
Andrew Yang has figured out something that other, more plausible candidates have not figured out. He knows how to give a crowd that "wow" factor. He surprises. He thrills.
He does it with a 35 minute presentation in that staple of New Hampshire retail politics, the "town hall" presentation. In the presentation:
***he shares with the audience he has similar concerns and values
***he describes a problem that the audience understands.
***he describes a plan to solve it.
***he communicates confidence he can lead and implement the solution.
***he is personally likable and engaging.
They are the classic elements of a successful infomercial, as described by marketing expert Tony Ferrell. Farrell, who posted here on this blog that potential customers "won't care what you know until they know that you care", and that a successful infomercial "makes no small promises."
Andrew Yang makes the large promise of Universal Basic Income, and he established that he cares.
Yang is good at this. If any of the more traditional candidates with traditional biographies--Biden, Klobuchar, Booker, Bennet, Bullock, Harris--had Yang's presentation skills, I predict he or she would be a runaway leader in the race.
They don't.
Part of the presentation is his body language of comfortable ease. He is enjoying himself. He engages. I watched him during the brief introductions to the two presentations I saw within 24 hours. He was bouncing on his feet, flexing his arms, eager to get going.
The presentation starts with him saying he went to Phillips Exeter and hated it, went to Brown and was sorry they didn't have a better football team, then to law school at Columbia because he didn't know what else to do, then a lawyer but hated writing contracts about what can go wrong. (A guy who is lost and doesn't like school. He is relatable.)
He started a business and failed, oh well, he tried. (Inoculates himself against being attacked for failure.)
He went to work helping run a college testing business, got bought out, and got rich, then started a non-profit to help entrepreneurship . (A successful good guy.)
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Bold solution: Data is the new valuable asset replacing oil. The data belongs to the people. Pay us back for our data, $1,000/month per adult. (The big promise.)
Explain confidently that a version is being done in Alaska now, and that conservative economists promoted it. A Universal Basic Income would solve the college debt problem, the retail spending problem the income redistribution problem. (Practical and realistic.)
Do the whole thing with humor, audience engagement, and a confident smile. (Likable.)
Will Yang win the nomination? I expect not. He doesn't have a political base, not yet. But he is changing what is politically possible; Universal Basic Income was the subject for twenty minutes at the last Democratic debate.
Yang is doing something important. He is confronting directly part of the problem with the American economy that made the Trump election possible. The other Democrats are offering an early-20th Century solution: trade unions, and a mid-20th Century solution, more college education. The reality, Yang says, is that all jobs will change, that employees need to learn creativity and flexibility, and that the jobs that will survive automation are hands on work, e.g. plumbers.
Yang, like Trump, identified a problem and offers a solution and the way to pay for it. Don't blame immigrants, Yang says. Immigrants are the good guys. They bring innovation and value. The real problem is artificial intelligence and progress and they aren't bad. They are inevitable. What is bad is that they get away with using our data for free, and worse, that we don't tax and get back the value of what was ours all along. So tax them and enjoy the money.
As Yang puts it, it is not a matter of left and right. It is a matter of looking forward. Automation and artificial intelligence is the reality, and we can work with it and prosper.
It is the opposite of Trump.
It is the opposite of Trump.
8 comments:
Andrew Yang is a "gimmick", and you'd expect more from a guy who supposedly got a law degree from Columbia.
Medicare and medicaid are going bankrupt due to a lack of funds, and Yang wants to give-away $1,000 monthly to every breathing person living in the United States (including illegal aliens). How absurd! There are Americans who have worked their entire lives who now receive but $1,000 monthly in social security, and that will be threatened by Yang's gift of taxpayer dollars to illegal aliens. America can't even afford to feed aging Americans, yet Yang wants to support the world. It's not feasible.
Yang is a one-dimensional candidate. The only thing that you know about him is that he wants to give-away free money to everyone. What are his domestic and foreign policies? Do you care? We know that he supports open borders and healthcare for all, which are a losing propositions.
Politicians used to get their experience by running first for state and local positions before they'd think of running for a national position. Not anymore. Lots of politicians seem to want to run for president before proving themselves in "lower" political position first. Yang needs to prove himself in a "lower" political position before he runs for president, because there's nothing about the guy that screams "presidential". He's a novelty, and his agenda is not sustainable.
Yeah, right - like aTrump schooled himself in the lower political positions of NY real estate con man and reality TV?
Anon. Is demonstrating an austerity mindset. “Be very afraid the yellow man is coming for your meager SS check.
Peter your selfie makes Andrew look stunning...
Correction....rather than state that medicare and medicaid are going bankrupt, I should have stated that social security and medicare are going bankrupt.
Nevertheless, democrats want to give-away assets that America doesn't have to give.
Trump created a billion-dollar business. Other than Mike Bloomberg (who owns media) and Tom Steyer (a hedge fund manager), the remaining democrat candidates haven't done squat in the private sector. What has Yang done?
Whether you like Trump or not, he has a record of accomplishment in the private sector, and he proved himself to be a competent manager.
Dude....you just lost ALL my respect when you used the "yellow man" term. I'll bet you wouldn't use that term to my face. I was married to a Japanese woman, and my son is 1/2 Japanese. You're a pathetic little racist. You're scum. You're typical for the Rogue Valley. What is your real name, RACIST? Identify yourself. Democrats are racists, and you just proved it.
And Curt is crazy.
Social security should be increased:
https://prospect.org/politics/is-this-man-social-securitys-unlikely-rescuer-john-larson/
Yang acknowledges that jobs are disappearing due to automation, yet wants more immigrants? That is ridiculous on its face.
Working class Americans don't need more dog-eat-dog competition for scarce jobs that pay meager wages and scarce housing that costs more than 2 workers earn in a month. $1000/month is not going to help desperate Americans faced with rents of $4000/month.
A Democratic Party that closes it eyes and ears to the suffering of the American working class should just close up shop. America needs better.
To the uninformed poster, the policy is for citizens ONLY not illegal aliens:
Every U.S. CITIZEN over the age of 18 would receive $1,000 a month, regardless of income or employment status, free and clear and no jumping through hoops. Yes, this means you and everyone you know would receive a check for $1,000 a month every month starting in January 2021.
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