<p>OCT 15 How does a politician write off 47 per cent of his electorate by portraying them as having a "victim" mentality and still gain support? Mitt Romney has managed to close the gap between him and Barack Obama by simply admitting to it and moving on to other issues as fast as he could.</p><p>The underlying assumption being that his campaign plank of lowering taxes would have no appeal to those not paying any taxes at all and therefore are not likely to vote for him, so why bother talking to them at all?</p><p>Closer home, as elections draw ever nearer, politicians seem to be playing from the same songbook, making a couple of astonishing statements and then simply moving on.</p><p>After hounding Suaram for receiving foreign funding, the prime minister simply stated that he was not obligated to disclose the source of approximately RM40 million donated to Sabah Umno in cash across national borders.</p><p><a href="http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/messaging-and-electoral-success">Keep reading...</a></p>