TJP

Clintonian Dissonance

By Byron A. Ellis, March 29, 2008

The Clintonian dissonance is potentially destructive to the Democratic Party. Dissonance occurs when a cognitive element is not expected to follow from another. An element is a belief, opinion, attitude, or knowledge about something. Any two cognitive elements can be irrelevant (nothing in common), consonant (consistent) or dissonant (inconsistent). For example, if you think that smoking is harmful to your health, you would probable not smoke. However, what is consonant or dissonant for one person may not be for another.

Thus, the Clintons may not recognize that they have lost the race for the Democratic nomination and that continuing to run causes harm to the Democratic Party. However, most Democrats, and even Republicans, are aware that Hillary will not be the Democratic nominee.

Dissonance is an aversive motivational state, where the opposite of one element follows from the other. It is a state where the individual knows that doing certain act is damaging, but continues to do it. The Clintons know, or should know, that they cannot overtake Obama’s lead in pledged delegates and that the longer they stay in the race the more damage they inflict on themselves and on the Democratic Party. So why are they still in the race?

Of course, they may believe that staying in the race makes Hillary looks like a fighter and makes their constituency feels good, as well as that staying in the race is expensive and damaging to the Party. However, their dissonance is predicated on two sets of cognitions, one consonant with the race for the nomination (looks like a fighter and feels good) and the other dissonant (expensive and damaging).

The importance of these two cognitive clusters of elements determines dissonance. Thus, how much dissonance the Clintons are experiencing depends on the relative size of these two clusters. If the Clintons do not place any importance on the Democratic Party winning the presidential nomination in November, they may not be experiencing any dissonance. And, their temperament to distort reality may, indeed, shield them from the tensions of a dissonance experience.

Therefore, it is important for the superdelegates to diminish the consonant cognitions that the Clintons erroneously hold and increase their dissonant cognitions. Thus, by changing the relative proportion of consonants and dissonant elements, they will reduce the importance of the Clintons consonant elements, creating tensions and stress that creates pressure to change within the Clintonian bubble.

Consistency is an important organizational principle in cognitive processing.  Sadly, although, many Democrats yearned for Clintonian consistency, the Clintons failed to deliver. Rather, they opted to reduce their dissonance by distorting or misrepresenting information (i.e., NAFTA, Bosnia, Ireland, patriotism, experience, race, and so on).

Although the window is closing, it is not too late, for Mrs. Clinton to exit the race for the Democratic nomination with grace.

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