I'll discuss several of Horowitz' points within the framework of these two simplified principles. Distill and market your message in a way that resonates with the fears and hopes of the common people. People support fairness, they don't support those they perceive as mean-spirited or in the pockets of special interests. However, most people are politically unsophisticated. Opinion polls can be radically skewed merely by a subtle change of wording.
Most people vote according to personality and superficial characteristics.
Hardly anyone actually follows the arcane details of policy debates. Therefore, those who wish to win the hearts and minds of the public cannot rely upon detailed statistical studies, policy papers, and sophisticated arguments. Instead, they must distill their messages into sound-bites, chants that are easy to remember and repeat. Of course, there's nothing sensible about Clinton' s proposals, which will actually increase innocent deaths at the hands of criminals. But politics isn't about truth, it's about perceptions.