ister
Stephen
Harper's
Bush-like
alpha-ready
personality
campaign.
I
also
mentioned
his
attack
ads
that
exploited
Liberal
Leader
Stephane
Dion's
weak
appearance
(like
the
Harper
website's
repetitive
use
of
a
picture
of
Dion
shrugging).
De
Waal
was
quick
to
note
the
astuteness
of
that
strategy,
pointing
out
that
for
an
alpha-male
challenger,
appearing
physically
weak
can
be
just
as
devastating
as
appearing
physically
strong
can
be
beneficial.
"There
are
observations,
both
in
captivity
and
in
the
field
of
males
who
are
injured
or
don't
feel
well
because
they
have
a
fever
or
whatever,
who
withdraw
from
the
group.
So
most
of
the
time
they're
licking
their
injuries
out
of
sight
of
everybody,
but
then,
as
soon
as
they
show
up
they
make
a
big
display
of
how
vigorous
and
strong
they
are.
They
will
do
all
their
displaying,
and
swing
through
the
trees
and
all
that,"
he
said.
"And
as
soon
as
that
is
over
and
everyone
has
been
impressed
with
them,
they
go
back
to
looking
their
injured
selves
and
being
withdrawn.
They
seem
to
realize
that
they
need
to
make
a
statement
on
occasion."
The
rules
and
gestures
used
to
establish
dominance
are
fairly
rigidly
codified,
de
Waal
argues,
and
fairly
consistent
across
all
ape
species,
Homo
sapiens
included.
However,
the
ethologist
believes
that
America's
new
focus
on
gender
politics
may
be
throwing
a
monkey
wrench,
if
you
will,
into
the
system.
"It
changes
the
whole
dynamic.
I
think,
for
a
male
politician,
it's
very
easy
to
deal
with
another
male
because
they
know
how
to
look
and
to
stare,
how
to
pout
and
how
to
beat
up
on
them
and
disagree
with
them,"
he
said.
"These
dynamics
of
the
confrontation,
I
think,
are
pretty
straightfor
ward
between
males.
All
of
them
get
messed
up
when
you
start
dealing
with
females,
and
the
whole
game
becomes
completely
different.
And
I
think
many
politicians
have
to
get
used
to
that."
De
Waal
says
that
in
chimp
societies,
which
rely
more
on
physical-ity
than
ours
do,
a
female
leader
is
unheard
of.
However,
he
is
quick
to
point
out
that
bonobos
-
a
close
relative
of
both
chimps
and
humans
-
actually
live
in
female-dominated
groups.
But
those
societies
are
governed
collectively,
not
hierarchically,
which
is
a
different
matter
altogether.
"It's
not
like
a
single
female
rises
through
the
ranks,
like
Margaret
Thatcher
did
in
the
U.K."
For
better
or
for
worse,
human
social
structure
is
basically
hierarchical
-
chimp-like
-
and
he
believes
that
female
politicians
do
not
fit
into
the
primate
confrontation
code.
I
asked
de
Waal
if
he
had
any
universal
primate
wisdom
he
would
like
to
impart
to
U.S.
Democratic
presidential
candidate
Barack
Obama
in
his
alpha
male
campaign.
"It's
a
bit
delicate
to
make
too
much
of
an
issue
of
the
age
of
Republican
candidate
John
McCain,
but
that
is,
of
course,
an
issue,"
the
doctor
mused
pensively.
"But
when
Barack
Obama
is
together
with
VP
candidate
Joe
Biden,"
he
said
suddenly,
as
though
struck
with
an
idea,
"you
get
the
idea
that
they
get
along.
You
see
some
sort
of
bonding
between
them.
Now,
in
chimpanzees
that's
a
very
important
issue,
that
you
show
that
your
partner
is
a
real
partner
-
you
bond
with
them,
you
groom
with
them,
you
walk
with
them,
you
share
food
with
them."
A
healthy
alliance
is
a
sign
of
a
successful
populist
leader.
De
Waal
thinks
that
Obama's
opponent
won't
be
able
to
play
off
the
same
instinctual
reaction.
"McCain,
being
an
old
guy
with
a
young
woman,
sets
off
all
sorts
of
red
flags
in
the
heads
of
women."
De
Waal's
political
teachings
have
never
gone
entirely
unnoticed.
Prominent
Republican
strategist
Newt
Gingrich
has
been
a
fan
of
Chimpanzee
Politics
for
years,
and
he
has
been
known
to
recommend
it
to
his
political
students
as
a
study
text.
Essentially,
what
de
Waal's
research
on
chimpanzees
teaches
us
is
how
to
understand
the
unspoken
code
that
is
so
important
in
politics:
the
body
language,
the
grand-standing,
and
the
appeals
to
comfort
and
protection,
like
playing
with
infants
and
demonstrating
that
you
have
strong
allies.
This
is
all
part
of
a
code
that
governs
our
behaviour,
but
that
the
media
and
the
water-cooler
pundits
have
trouble
discussing.
The
code
may
be
lost
on
us
because
we
no
longer
need
what
our
ape
ancestors
needed
to
survive.
But
separating
ourselves
from
those
instincts
is
a
lot
harder
than
building
an
air-conditioned
condo.
Maybe
we
need
more
female
politicians
to
subvert
the
ancient
code;
or
maybe
we
need
to
avoid
all
the
blathering
of
election
season
and
make
a
concerted
effort
to
consider
nothing
but
the
issues:
to
actually
appeal
to
the
phantom
of
reason,
rather
than
assume
its
existence.
As
de
Waal
puts
it:
"Who
is
reading
the
health-care
plan
of
Obama
versus
McCain.
Who's
doing
that?
That's
where
human
politics,
you
would
think,
would
differ
from
chimpanzee
politics.
But
I
think
it
barely
does."
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