Persuasion and Fear

In light of Bill Clinton's recent comments and bytwerk's response, I wanted to discuss a few historical examples of fear and persuasion. Specifically, I want to point out a previous example of an attempt to persuade that Bill Clinton used in Iowa to no avail.

• Shortly before the Iowa caucus in January 2008, Bill Clinton upped the pressure: "You realize, of course, the future of the free world is riding on your performance" (source)

As you may recall, Hillary came in a surprising third place in Iowa--a shock to many political observers (source). However, Bill Clinton never followed up with his threat. It seems that these warnings are nothing but empty rhetoric. Let's look in history and see some examples of effective attempts to persuade using fear.

• About eight weeks before the 2004 election, Dick Cheney unloaded a fearful prediction about what would happen if John Kerry won--The following quote is from a CBS News story: "Vice President Dick Cheney says the United States will risk another terrorist attack if voters make the wrong choice on Election Day, suggesting Sen. John Kerry would follow a pre-Sept. 11 policy of reacting defensively.
  
  'It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States,' Cheney told supporters at a town-hall meeting Tuesday." (source; source; source;)
  

As you may imagine, this comment infuriated democrats. They responded by appealing to yet another form of fear-persuasion--calling Cheney's comments 'un-American':

The Kerry campaign called Cheney's allegation "un-American" and said Bush would not be able to "distract the American people" from problems in Iraq and with the U.S. economy. But in a tacit acknowledgment that Kerry has had difficulty presenting a convincing critique of Bush, Kerry aides are promising a major new front in Kerry's stepped-up attack on Bush's policies beginning Wednesday: a series of speeches laying out the administration's "miscalculations" in taking the nation to war in Iraq.

Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards, interviewed aboard his plane after leaving Ohio, said of Cheney's comments: "What he said was meant to scare voters, period. And it's completely contrary to what's in the best interest of the American people. . . . It was way over the top and I think un-American."

(source: Washington Post)

• Shortly before the 2004 election, George Bush said to an audience in Ohio: "And I want you to remind your friends and neighbors that my opponent will raise the taxes on Ohio's families and Ohio's small businesses." (source)
• Note: There is nothing extraordinary about republicans threatening that democrats will raise taxes if elected. The examples of this are countless.

My conclusion is that some amount of fear can persuade. However, like negative attacks, persuading with fear must be done carefully.