Scott Adams |
Said : Scott Adams of ‘Dilbert’ fame about Donald Trump whom he had been supporting until last month.
According to Washington Post, Adams, switched his endorsement from Hillary Clinton to Trump last month, and then again to Gary Johnson this month after the “Access Hollywood” tape’s release.
Michael Cavna in his post tries to analyse "why Scott Adams - who was long seen as a truth-telling champion of the beleaguered cubicle dweller - risked his reputation by sparking controversy in the election."
"Adams has repeatedly stated that the White House was Trump’s to lose, predicting a “landslide” victory. According to Adams, who is a trainer in persuasion techniques and hypnosis, Donald Trump was “a master persuader” — a man who knew how to stay expertly on message", Cavna noted Adams, in his blog, under a post titled "The Crook Versus the Monster."
Adams feels that "reality isn’t a factor in this election, as per usual." This is based on his observation that if the truth mattered, voters might care about the real issues and characteristics of their favoured candidate. They have a kind of illusion about their leaders.
For example, "we think the people on the other side can’t see the warts on their own candidate. But I think they do. Clinton supporters know she is crooked, but I think they assume it is a normal degree of crookedness for an American politician. Americans assume that even the “good” politicians are trading favors and breaking every rule that is inconvenient to them. I’ve never heard a Clinton supporter defend Clinton as being pure and honest. Her supporters like her despite her crookedness."
"Thanks to timely assists from Wikileaks, Trump has successfully framed Hillary Clinton as a crooked politician. Meanwhile, Clinton has successfully framed Trump as a dangerous monster. If the mainstream polls are accurate, voters prefer the crook to the monster. That makes sense because a crook might steal your wallet but the monster could kill you. As of today, Clinton has the superior persuasion strategy. Crook beats monster." - Scott Adams
Similarly, "Trump supporters know what they are getting. They know he’s offensive. They know he’s under-informed on policies. They know he pays as little in taxes as possible. They know he uses bankruptcy laws when needed. They know he ignores facts that are inconvenient to his message. They just don’t care. They want to push the monster into Washington D.C., close the door, and let him break everything that needs to be broken. Demolition is usually the first step of building something new. And Trump also knows how to build things when he isn’t in monster mode," he added.
In yet another post Adams compares the leadership qualities of Jesus, Martin Luther King, Abe Lincoln, Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela. "None were bully leaders, and none encouraged their supporters to be bullies. So what did they do that worked so well? "I’ll tell you what. They described a better version of ourselves and let us find a way to it," he answered himself and went on comparing Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump for their leadership qualities.
Adams has confessed that he had to pay a heavy price for his apparent support for Donald Trump. “My speaking career (his once-lucrative side business) ended because of this and licensing sales are down," he revealed to Cavna who reported "All told, Adams said, his income has dipped precipitously." But Adams regrets none of it.