The debate over Barack Obama’s comments about small-town Pennsylvania voters seems misguided. It has nothing to do with political issues. It has nothing to do with effete, chardonnay-guzzling liberals. It’s an issue of how personality and personality type color how one sees the world.

Just in case you forgot, Obama got up in early April in front of a bunch of rich limousine liberals at a fund raiser in San Francisco and said the following:

“You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. 

“And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Now, just so you don’t think I’m a complete hypocrite, I have to admit that I am an ardent Obama fan. And I want him to be the next President. I identify with what he has to say and the way he says it. But, I’m not most of America.

See, Obama’s real problem here is he sees the world in abstract overtones. He reduces people’s situations to abstractions that verge on parody because he doesn’t live their kind of life. Then, he talks about vision and strategy without offering any tangible specifics people can latch on to. I’m sorry, but most people just don’t think that way.

I mean, c’mon. Do you think USA Today is the largest newspaper in America because people care about Obama’s vision on Universal Health Care versus Hillary’s? No, I know I read it because it has the best damn sports section in the country, and because I can get up-to-date in 15 minutes with news, weather, whatever. — And it’s easy to read. Most people aren’t looking for in-depth reporting on how Congress plans to tackle the Alternative Minimum Tax in 2009.

People care about what they can touch and feel. They care about crime in their neighborhood, who’s moving in next door, why the neighbor doesn’t cut his grass, and how to make the garbage man stop losing the lid to the trash can. If we each have a reasonably secure job and a decent place to live, we get on with life. And that means going to our kids’ baseball games, cleaning the house, deciding which movie to go to, and whether we can afford Disney World this year. Quite frankly, unless it affects us in ways we can feel, see, or hear, most people could give a rat’s ass about the budget deficit, the Alternative Minimum Tax, or even the War in Iraq, or any of those other ‘concepts’ that politicians keep telling us to pay attention to.

That’s why religion and guns are so important. That’s why immigration is so important. If I go hunting, you’re damn right I’ll care if someone tells me I can’t do it anymore. And, religion? Same thing. Churches are things we see, feel, and touch every week. For a lot of people, religion gives real meaning to life. You start messing with my religious freedom and you have a fight on your hands. And, if my best friend loses his job, you’re darn tootin’ I care that Harold and Kumar overstayed their visa.

These are real issues that effect our lives every single day in tangible ways that each of us can feel, touch and see. That’s why they are so important. If Obama wants people to respond viscerally, he needs to not only give them hope, but he needs to speak their language too!

SENSORS
Most people are what are called Sensors. Psychologists use the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to define personality types and 3 out of every 4 individuals is a sensor.

Sensors often:
* Focus on details and specifics
* Like practical solutions
* Notice details and remember facts
* Are pragmatic – see and feel what is
* Live in the here-and-now
* Trust their actual experiences
* Like step-by-step instructions

This is the language 3 out of every 4 Americans speak. If Barack’s going to offer a plan, people want practical solutions, specifics, details and the step-by-step manual — not because they actually care about the steps but because it gives comfort to know our leaders are on the case. It’s like an interview with the American people. You need to show you have mastered the detail to pass the test. Otherwise, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

INTUITIVES
On the other hand, Barack Obama is what you call an Intuitive.

Intuitives generally:
* Focus on the big picture and possibilities
* Like creative ideas
* Notice anything new or different
* Are inventive – see and believe in what could be
* Live thinking about the future
* Trust their gut instincts
* Like to figure things out for themselves

Well, no wonder everyone keeps asking where’s the beef. The guy is speaking a totally different language. It’s like that Mars and Venus crap — except he’s from Mars and we’re from Planet Earth. It’s like the guy’s speaking Swahili. He may be eloquent and uplifting. He may be an obvious change from the status quo. He may have the best judgment of all of the candidates, but he’s not speaking the right language.

People need concrete details and specific solutions so they can be assured they have the right guy. That’s why Hillary is still in the race. She has a plan for everything. I imagine my saying to her, “Hillary, I want to know what you’re going to do about pigeons crapping all over the water fountain on the nature trail behind Lynnwood Park.” She’d say, “Well Ed, that’s a great question. I have a plan for that. Here’s my solution…” Then she’d drone on for 10 minutes about government’s responsibility to keeping nature close to us. I probably wouldn’t even understand a word she’d say, but I imagine her saying it with conviction and authority and DETAIL. I’d probably think to myself, “wow, she really knows her sh&t.” And, then I’d go home to my couch and watch Lebron and the Cavaliers beat up on the Wizards on my giant flat screen.

Wake up, Barack? Most people are like, “I voted. Can I go back and paint my garage now, already?”

I mean, let’s get this thing over with. Then, everyone can go back to doing the things we all do — like fighting over who left the cap off the toothpaste, or figuring out whether we should watch Grey’s Anatomy or the Lakers vs. the Nuggets on TV, or deciding if we should buy a Plasma or an LCD TV. We can then go to church, or go hunting or go gossip with neighbors about who’s moving in next door. After all, these are the things that people spend 90% of their time in life doing. Why shouldn’t people consider those the most important things as well when picking a President?