President Barack Obama knows how to Unite and Conquer through communicating values

It should come as no surprise that one of the current hot topics in the news and in politics is healthcare reform. Many Republicans have been using fear tactics to try and sway people to go against reforming our healthcare industry, often using extreme examples of people dying in Canada while on waitlists for treatment and stating that if the government takes over healthcare, all the other industries are next.

Now, aside from the faulty logic and their slippery slope arguments, this is a horrible strategy because the main thing that they are communicating is fear. While fear can be motivating, it’s an awful value to communicate because it’s hard to get most people to positively want to associate with fear. When using fear tactics that promote a destitute future, the majority of people are going to respond in anger. And as I’m sure you’ve noticed, past the age of five, screaming rarely wins you an argument.

On the other hand, in the video above, President Barack Obama does a phenomenal job of communicating values. In 2 minutes he touches on many values associated with health care reform that all Americans hold true, such as opportunity, equality, quality, the future, change and well being. He’s not shouting, “If we don’t do this, we’ll all die,” as many opponents have used as a primary strategy. He’s communicating hope for a better tomorrow. Using values and promoting hope, has helped President Obama create a powerful, but calm, force of support.

If you live in Arizona and wish to contribute to the discussion of healthcare reform, please join the Arizonans for Health Reform group on Facebook.

If you don’t live in Arizona and wish to be a part of this dialogue, you can visit my.BarackObama.com/august to find an event near you.

Let your voice be heard

As most of you know, I am on President Obama's White House Health Reform Task Force. In order to understand completely what type of changes Arizonans would like to see, I've started a group on Facebook, Arizonans for Health Reform. 

I'm committed to reducing costs, preserving choice, assuring quality affordable health care for all Arizonans--and Americans.

Please join the group to add your voice to the conversation and to find out more about upcoming events and forums where we can further this discussion. I look forward to hearing your stories, opinions and ideas.