Posted on 01/23/2012 12:55:17 PM PST by Mount Athos
One week ago, Mitt Romney amassed a record 23-point lead in Gallup tracking polls. But in the latest poll released Monday, the former Massachusetts governor’s advantage has evaporated to a single percentage point among Republican-leaning registered voters. Romney now stands at 29 percent to Gingrich’s 28 percent.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Yep - I’m hoping for
NEWT/WEST
It would set the country on fire
and the Socialists, their media and the Republican Establishment on suicide watch
Any independent that has 1/2 a brain will vote in their own best interest...I admire them for that....they are not idealogical driven like us...Now after 3 yrs of Obama...75% will vote for ANYBODY else.....They may have to hold their nose..but they will!..that's what they like about being “independent”
Ive quized many of my independent friends and was amazed with their dislike of Obama...even though they voted for him before....They have no qualms about changing because they are INDEPENDANT!....honest!...its amazing!
Was it only a week or two ago that the experts were pointing out how Mitt had timed his momentum perfectly, and was “peaking” at just the right time?
That seems like a long time ago now.
Gingrich just released his Freddi Mac consulting contract.
Gingrich just released his Freddi Mac consulting contract.
But Newt is still beating him across the board.
“Obama loves to hear himself talk...and thinks everyone else loves to hear him talk.”
In all candor I get a headache when I hear his voice. It is more annoying than fingernails scraped across a blackboard, or the boom boom boom of some idiot teenager’s car stereo.
Me too. His bellowing is sooo annoying. Sounds like he’s yelling into an empty wastebasket.
That only works if you're not aware of it!!
[Two words: Delphi Technique<<
That only works if you’re not aware of it!!]
True, but lots of people are not aware of it.
So, what is the Delphi Technique?
THE DELPHI TECHNIQUE
How to achieve a workable consensus within time limits
by Lynn Stuter
The Delphi Technique was originally conceived as a way to obtain the opinion of experts without necessarily bringing them together face to face. In Educating for the New World Order by Bev Eakman, the reader finds reference upon reference for the need to preserve the illusion that there is “Lay, or community, participation in the decisionmaking process), while in fact lay citizens are being squeezed out.”
A specialized use of this technique was developed for teachers, the “Alinsky Method” (ibid., p. 123). The setting or group is, however, immaterial the point is that people in groups tend to share a certain knowledge base and display certain identifiable characteristics (known as group dynamics). This allows for a special application of a basic technique. The “change agent” or “facilitator” goes through the motions of acting as an organizer, getting each person in the target group to elicit expression of their concerns about a program, project, or policy in question. The facilitator listens attentively, forms “task forces,” “urges everyone to make lists,” and so on. While she is doing this, the facilitator learns something about each member of the target group. He/she identifies the “leaders,” the “loud mouths,” as well as those who frequently turn sides during the argument the “weak or noncommittal.”
Suddenly, the amiable facilitator becomes “devil’s advocate.” He/she dons his professional agitator hat. Using the “divide and conquer” technique, he/she manipulates one group opinion against the other. This is accomplished by manipulating those who are out of step to appear “ridiculous, unknowledgeable, inarticulate, or dogmatic.” He/she wants certain members of the group to become angry, thereby forcing tensions to accelerate. The facilitator is well trained in psychological manipulation. S/He is able to predict the reactions of each group member. Individuals in opposition to the policy or program will be shut out of the group.
The method works. It is very effective with parents, teachers, school children, and any community group. The “targets” rarely, if ever, know that they are being manipulated. If they do suspect this is happening, they do not know how to end the process. The desired result is for group polarization, and for the facilitator to become accepted as a member of the group and group process. He/she will then throw the desired idea on the table and ask for opinions during discussion. Very soon his/her associates from the divided group begin to adopt the idea as if it were their own, and pressure the entire group to accept the proposition.
——end snippet-—
http://www.seanet.com/~barkonwd/school/DELPHI.HTM
it is incidious
The Delphi Technique — How to Disrupt It
Ground rules for disrupting the consensus process (Delphi Technique) — when facilitators want to steer a group in a specific direction.
1) Always Be Charming. Smile, be pleasant, be courteous, moderate your voice so as not to come across as belligerent or aggressive.
2) Stay Focused. If at all possible, write your question down to help you stay focused. Facilitators, when asked questions they don’t want to answer, often digress from the issue raised and try to work the conversation around to where they can make the individual asking the question look foolish, feel foolish, appear belligerent or aggressive. The goal is to put the one asking the question on the defensive. Do not fall for this tactic. Always be charming, thus deflecting any insinuation, innuendo, etc, that may be thrown at you in their attempt to put you on the defensive, but bring them back to the question you asked. If they rephrase your question into an accusatory statement (a favorite tactic) simply state, “that is not what I stated, what I asked was… (repeat your question).” Stay focused on your question.
3) Be Persistent. If putting you on the defensive doesn’t work, facilitators often resort to long drawn out dissertations on some off-the-wall and usually unrelated, or vaguely related, subject that drags on for several minutes – during which time the crowd or group usually loses focus on the question asked (which is the intent). Let them finish with their dissertation/expose, then nicely, with focus and persistence, state, “but you didn’t answer my question. My question was… (repeat your question).”
Remember…
always be charming,
stay focused, and
be persistent.
Never, under any circumstance, become angry. Anger directed at the facilitator will immediately make the facilitator “the victim.” This defeats the purpose which is to make you the victim. The goal of the facilitator is to make those they are facilitating like them, alienating anyone who might pose a threat to the realization of their agenda. [People with fixed belief systems, who know what they believe and stand on what they believe, are obvious threats.] If the participant becomes the victim, the facilitator loses face and favor with the crowd. This is why crowds are broken up into groups of seven or eight, why objections are written on cards, not voiced aloud where they are open to public discussion and public debate. It’s called crowd control. It is always good to have someone else, or two or three others who know the Delphi Technique dispersed through the crowd; who, when the facilitator digresses from the question, will stand up and say nicely, “but you didn’t answer that lady’s/gentleman’s question.” The facilitator, even if suspecting you are together, certainly will not want to alienate the crowd by making that accusation. Sometimes it only takes one occurrence of this type for the crowd to figure out what’s going on, sometimes it takes more than one.
If you have an organized group, meet before the meeting to strategize. Everyone should know their part. Meet after the meeting to analyze what went right, what went wrong and why, and what needs to happen the next time around. Never meet during the meeting. One of the favorite tactics of the facilitator, if the meeting is not going the way he/she wants, if he/she is meeting measurable resistance, is to call a recess. During the recess, the facilitator and his/her “spotters” (people who wander the room during the course of the meeting, watching the crowd) watch the crowd to see who congregates where, especially those who have offered measurable resistance. If the “resistors” congregate in one place, a “spotter” will usually gravitate to that group to “join in the conversation” and will report back to the facilitator. When the meeting resumes, the facilitator will steer clear of those who are “resistors.” Do not congregate. Hang loose and work the crowd. Move to where the facilitator or “spotters” are, listen to what they have to say, but do not gravitate to where another member of your team is.
This strategy also works in a face to face, one on one, meeting with anyone who has been trained in how to use the Delphi Technique.
http://www.learn-usa.com/transformation_process/acf002.htm
the Delphi Technique is considered unethical and manipulative.
the question is whether we can catch the moderators doing it.
So, what is the Delphi Technique?
See the link below. The TV shows have to modify it a little, but it’s a way to structure their coverage to manipulate/convince the audience under the guise of analysis etc.
http://www.vlrc.org/articles/110.html
Couple things are obvious:
When Newt started to ignore Mitt and attack the liberals in the media and Obama’s administration, he soared.
When Santorum started to attack Newt, he tanked.
Hmmm. Do I spot a trend. People want LIBERALS ATTACKED PERIOD.
Oh, I was trying to listen to a video about this, yesterday, the title was group manipulation. The woman was going to give instructions on how to deal with it and avoid being manipulated. I was very interested, but I couldn’t get the rest of the video to download.
I see this method being used by the left, all the time. As the woman was describing it, I was thinking about the OWS protests. She was saying that young people are particularly vulnerable. It kind of explains why hear such inane answers from the protesters about what they are protesting. They don’t know.
Is it me, or does Calista look like the chick in the movie “Mars Attacks” who is an alien who rolls into the White House and is very mechanical....I think she does.
And after he lost Iowa and got pasted in South Carolina "he is the most electable" is no longer a valid answer...
People always used to say that Laura Bush was lifeless and plastic, the same way they do now about Calista Gingrich...
But after three long years of Michelle Obama, what American wouldn't chew off his own arm to have Laura Bush back.
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