Just Say No!

Propaganda

Please pass the propaganda. As presidential candidates whip their campaigns into high gear, America's voters will unwittingly wolf down trucker-size portions of manipulative political messages with their daily dinner of national news.

So far into the 1992 campaign, such fare has not gone down very well, says psychologist Anthony Pratkanis, of the University of California at Santa Cruz. Perhaps an overdose of propaganda in past elections activated voters' gag reflex. A perpetually stalled economy and the Los Angeles riots may have also overshadowed candidates' latest attempts to shape a political agenda.

Meanwhile, presidential wannabees will undoubtedly dish out another propaganda favorite: innuendos and factoids-tidbits of incriminating information about an opponent that often blocks out discussion of other issues. Both are often served right before an election, giving a candidate no time to counterattack, says Pratkanis.

Democratic hopeful Bill Clinton fights innuendo and slander with a classic counter-propaganda technique: inoculation. When he senses trouble, he calms the public by doling out a drop of the innuendo and hoping voters will develop immunity when a big slur comes along.

Analogies and metaphors help politicians peddle ideas by framing an issue in easily understood terms. Politicians who called Saddam Hussein another Hitler, for example, tilted the public to intervention.

Fear works because voters don't like being scared. They'll do anything to escape it quickly-usually vote for a candidate who says he can get rid of it. Newspaper and television ads featuring paroled convict Willie Horton, for instance, are classic examples. Placed by opponents of Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election, they prompted voters to respond to their emotions rather than eval uate the issues.

Ross Perot hopes to succeed by eschewing the propaganda menu entirely. With plans for electronic "town meetings" and lengthy television programs about national issues, he's trying to pull away from the pack of 30-second soundbite, innuendo candidates.

Photo: Scene from the movie Citizen Kane.