Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

Do We Like Candidates We Think Would Like Us?

In the course of explaining why Wall Streeters are reacting negatively to Sarah Palin, Dealbreaker’s John Carney makes an interesting point:

When pressed for an explanation and supplied with a few cocktails, some of those we talked with admitted that they suspected Palin wouldn’t like them very much. Her life seems almost a repudiation of the aspirations and achievements of so many Wall Streeters. She is married to a man whose job involves having a strong back, working in oil and fishing. He earns a good-enough living doing this and his recreation time is spent on snow machines (not, as we would have said, snow mobiles), hunting and exploring the wilderness. No rounds at Shinnecock for the Palins.

What’s more, she has so many children, one of whom is already having a child. It’s like the Palins are trying not only to prove that they can enjoy a life without conference rooms, spreadsheets, beach houses and bespoke shirts. They’re outbreeding those of us whose lives are characterized by those things. Even Wall Street’s former uber-mother, Zoe Cruz, only managed to produce three offspring.

The Wall Street reaction to Palin illustrates more than class snobbery. It illustrates an important political dynamic that is commonly overlooked. We often hear pundits discuss the importance of “likeability” of a candidate for public office. But the truly more influential characteristic is the opposite: people judge candidates by their evaluations of how much the candidate would like them. Obama’s supporters imagine that they’d get along fine with Obama, that he would enjoy spending time in their company. Palin’s detractors suspect she might not even to respond to an invitation to their party, and if she did show up she’d be full of contempt. We’re all narcissists in politics.

It’s an interesting thought experiment.