Personality Zone

• 2008
• Kip Parent
• Presidential election

Posted by JudyS on Feb 8, 2008 Kip, I've read your series on the candidates with great interest. Now I am curious as to who you favor personally in this election. I've been trying to figure this out as I have read your analysis, and haven't come to a conclusion. As a Fieldmarshal, are you behind Hillary?

Posted by CoolaTroopa on Feb 8, 2008 Just out of curiosity, what makes you think that Romney is a Mastermind and not a Fieldmarshal? He seems fairly Extraverted to me.

Posted by Keillan on Feb 8, 2008 I speculate that McCain also benefitted from having too many Guardians (or in Romney's case, Guardian-wannabe) in the field, leaving him as the sole spokeman of the Artisan branch (moderates). He didn't seem to have many majorities in primary contests, but a plurality is all that's needed to win delegates, especially with several winner-takes-all contests. I wonder if that's how Reagan might have won the nomination in 1980, going against Guardians Bush Elder and Bob Dole.

Posted by mkb32 on Feb 8, 2008 CoolaTroopa, Kip has done an excellent job reporting without bias. I would prefer he continue as is.

Posted by RandyParent on Feb 8, 2008 I agree that Kip should not disclose his preference. But, I bet we can figure it out by both this temperment and what he has written. As a rational, he is pragmatic. A pragmatist wants to win in November -- hence, his focus of analysis on which candidates would be strongest in the general election. So, we would have supported Edwards until Edwards dropped out -- if he tilts to the left, or McCain if he tilts to the right. And now, if he tilts left, he wants the demos to nominate Obama over Hilary, because, as a pragmatist, he wants to back a winner. He's more interested in achieving the best result possible than standing on principal and losing. Again, Kip, you should leave us all guessing.

Posted by Shinydemon on Feb 11, 2008 Barack Obama is the most charismatic Rational politician I think we have seen in my lifetime. He may be the one to break the Artisan trend, should he win the Democratic Nomination. Democrats: Obama’s the better bet. I'd say Kip's ready to Barack and Roll!

Posted by maxieb on Feb 12, 2008 Way to go, Kip! Great artickle and I do hope you are barracking for Barack! Did anyone really think Fred Thompson would win the nomination? Hopefully not!

Posted by DavidMKeirsey on Feb 12, 2008 Coolatroopa, FieldMarshals do not have to Extraverted, Masterminds do not have to be Intraverted. My father has no use for Myers' Extraversion/Introversion. They do, however, correlate.

Posted by P51mus on Feb 29, 2008 Though, have any Rational Masterminds shown up in a presidential election before? The list of presidential winners/losers since 1960 shows two rationals in the list losing, but doesn't list their subtype.

Posted by leonbodevin on Mar 1, 2008 I have a point to make that lies outside the realm of personality but is relevant to this conversation. It is about a characteristic that is so often found in future national leaders: the absence of a father or the presence of a rather ineffectual one (like Reagan or Clinton). As far as I can tell, Barack Obama is the only candidate that has this characteristic.

Posted by KipParent on Mar 2, 2008 Eisenhower was an INTJ, the last Rational president. Al Gore is an INTP. Dave Keirsey and I have been discussing Barry Goldwater, who was an NTJ - and debating whether he was a Mastermind or a Fieldmarshal.

Posted by TennisGuru on Mar 3, 2008 Barack and Roll? Shinydemon, stick to the graphics ;) Hey aren't we down to 2 now?

Posted by berrybunches on Mar 13, 2008 Um where is Ron Paul? I am sure you you have heard about the Ron Paul Revolution. He is still in the race and has consistently raised more money and gotten more votes than "America's Favorite mayor" and "Law and Order" and has beat every candidate in at least once in state primary/caucus. He had the single largest 24 hour fund raising day in the history of politics. He has more military than donations than all the candidates combined He has the most friends on myspace, youtube and facebook He is the most searched candidate on the internet He has many more meetup.com groups in his name than any other candidates. He has meetup.com groups for him in 32 countries. He is the only candidate that has a 100% anti-war record He is the most unique candidate He is the most honest/principled He is wildly popular with independents, republicans, libertarians, and democrats. Oh and hes still in the race!!! What gives? I noticed your personality test gave me a very anti liberal/pro conventional state score that I do not understand...maybe personality zone goes as far as to blackout anti-state/libertarian/anarchist results in their testing as well as in their candidate coverage.

Posted by Malleeman on Mar 16, 2008 I wonder if age will play a factor in this election?? McCain appears old and tired, and I question whether someone that old should be in power when potentially they won't be around long enough to see the impacts of all their policies. Also, a betting agency (in Australia) has Obama to win the presidency at $1.40, then McCain at $3, then Clinton at about $4.40. If Artisans always beat Rationals, then a $3 return per dollar sounds pretty good! (not that I support gambling). Even so, I still wouldn't feel confident backing McCain to win just yet, as Obama seems to have something "different". Whether it's charisma, I'm not sure...But if McCain wins, I will never question the theory (and supporting evidence) that Artisans will always win an election :-)

Posted by KipParent on Mar 17, 2008 If Ron Paul were to declare as an independent, then I would certainly write about him. I think he is a very interesting candidate with views that are worth discussing. But in the Republican nomination process, he hasn't risen above the noise level as a viable candidate. Who or what I write about the candidates has nothing to do with whom I personally favor, but anyone is welcome to guess.

Posted by berrybunches on Mar 18, 2008 Well Kip, my point was that you have listed candidates who got far less votes than Ron Paul. ie Ron Paul made more noise than them in the polls making your comments not add up. Anyway, I would like to know, how do you classify him? He is far far different than any other candidate in how he forms his opinions. I think he is an Idealist mainly because he is convicted about what he believes in and never compromises. Also because he seems to care about people deeply as is shown in his strong anti-war stance and the fact he was an OB doctor who treated many patience for free. You thoughts please?

Posted by KipParent on Mar 19, 2008 Here is a link to an article on Ron Paul and Temperament by David Bergland - far more in depth than anything I might be able to attempt. http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/bergland3.html Overall, I think Ron Paul brings issues and debate to the campaign that is very important. That he has been marginalized by his own party is, in my opinion, unfortunate. I think he would be much more successful as an independent or 3rd party candidate - and the country would be better off for his addition to the dialog.

Posted by The_Winch on Mar 24, 2008 In http://users.viawest.net/~keirsey/GoreandBush.htm 8 years ago David Keirsey said Gore is either an ESFJ or ENFJ. Now it appears the decision your organization is making is INTP. I don't want to point this example out as being typical for all these candidates, but it does illustrate the difficulty in typing someone else, especially without the benefit of direct questioning. Even typing oneself can be very difficult. I personally dealt with this in typing myself. It was only when Gerald Weinberg's wife, Dani, pointed out to me that they thought I was a closet INFP, that I looked at what a huge difference one letter change can make and the affect of nuture (self-imposed or otherwise) on one's life (I have validated this INFP evaluation numerous times since then). Clearly Gore's life has also changed radically since 2000. But I wonder if that also won't be the case with some of these candidates, after they have lost the race, particularly if they have no reasonable shot to try again in the future. Have they been mistyped because nurture has been forcing them to be other than their authentic-self and this is unknown to anyone but their closest friends? Or are there certain types that are harder to type when looking at the acts, votes, speeches, and writings of presidential candidates? On a side matter, I have found Naomi Quenk's book on 4th function actions (Beside Ourselves) to be helpful in deciding inborn type when this may be confused by the affects of nurturing - I tend to think that how we act under stress/crises is less susceptible to learned behavior.

Posted by pcatiprodotnet on Apr 6, 2008 Gore an INTP?!? I find that very difficult to believe... unless, perhaps, he is chronically "in the grip" of inferior Feeling, and thus behaving somewhat like as a lesser/peculiar ESFJ ?

Posted by Malleeman on Apr 8, 2008 I know this is an old blog entry, but thought this Obama & Oprah Parody clip will help to lighten things up :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I7aizjlP-8&feature=user

Posted by unders on May 5, 2008 I do not think Obama is an INTJ at all. He is most likely a ENFP Champion who is a catalyst and can get things going. Keep in mind that ENFP also see the big picture and possibilities in people. I hang around a lot of ENFPs, and they are all very charismatic and seems to possess a bit of the rational mind (im a rational) Regardless, I believe Obama is definitely at least a NP. Also, kipParent is an ENTJ. No offense sir, but i do believe that it is your character to tend to be far-sighted, but miss out on details and possess tunnel vision? Is a field-marshal the best at determining psychological type? Isn't it the folly of the field-marshal to reach a conclusion too soon before he/she has picked up enough information? Also, Mr. Kip, you don't seem to provide any specific argument of why you think Obama is a INTJ, but only general arguments. You say Obama is a rational that has develop good artisan and idealist skills. But, why not argue that he is an idealist (namely champions) who has develop great rational skills, say though school? Remember Champions comes off as an performer-artisan a lot of the times. Lets get a INFP here (since brigg was one herself) and see what she says? They are the best at analyzing characteristics. What does keirsey say obama is? I think this article below makes a much better analysis on Obama and the other candidates. http://www.slate.com/id/2184696/ Also, I think hilary is a ESTJ, rather than ENTJ, but this doesn't matter as much because i have notices that ESTJs will take on more ENTJ traits as they age and go through college. They learn and understand the abstract world. Thats how the education system teaches anyways. I do very much agree Gore is a INTP, as I am one too and I definitely see a lot INTP characteristics. For this quote: "he is chronically "in the grip" of inferior Feeling, and thus behaving somewhat like as a lesser/peculiar ESFJ ?" Please remember INTPs do have lots of feelings (just not shown) , very much like INFPs.

Posted by unders on May 5, 2008 How come this forum gets rid of all my line-spacings!!! Boo!!!

Posted by Faucethead on May 7, 2008 Kip, last time I checked the Field Marshal report, you had McCain typed as a Artisan-Crafter. What caused you to change your analysis to Artisan-Promoter?

Responses by Guardians, Artisans, Rationals, Idealists, All