Rationality

This excellent article explains why people respond to sensationalized messages when considering political decisions. From the article:

“A dispassionate mind that makes decisions by weighing the evidence and reasoning to the most valid conclusions bears no relation to how the mind and brain actually work.”

Or, as I like to phrase it, PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS.

For a rational voter (if they actually exist), this leads to the somewhat depressing conclusion that they should not vote for a candidate with an articulate, rational, well-presented platform, because most other people won't and it's a waste of a vote. For a good politician, this leads to the somewhat depressing conclusion that they should focus their platform more on emotional considerations like pride or fear-mongering, and that the rationality of their platform should be secondary at best.

This same phenomenon explains everything from the success of religion to why sex sells to why I post blog titles like "Murdering Babies".