The College Fix

An author and educator who predicted in a book published in May that President Barack Obama would win re-election tells Human Events that “presidential campaigns are increasingly ‘religious,’ ” and Obama used that strategy to win the hearts and minds of voters.

Mark Edward Taylor, author of “Charisma: Why Obama Will Beat Romney,” was quoted in the article as saying:

“He preached hope, calling followers to continue to have faith in him. In my academic field, that’s known as ‘priestly propaganda’ — telling people what they want to believe regardless of its veracity,” Taylor said. “His criticisms of Romney late in the race were not designed to gain independent voters so much as to turn out Obama’s base. Obama needed to clarify that he was the godly candidate and Romney was the devilish candidate — hence, the class-warfare rhetoric about poor vs. rich.”

Tools in creating a religious-vibe for the president were sacred words, like hope and belief, and revival-like rallies, Taylor said. Obama also used sacred icons, such as reverential images of (himself) – and saintly supporters, such as the Hollywood celebs and rock stars who publicly endorsed him and who testified to their faith in him.

Taylor said he wrote the book in May after watching Romney in the primaries, where he noticed that Romney did not understand how to communicate a political message in a religious way. In a battle of brands, Romney was going up against the biggest and the best, said Taylor, a Chicago native, whose case study of the 2008 campaign became his book “Branding Obamessiah: The Rise of An American Idol.”

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