In The Prince, Machiavelli states that “…those princes who have accomplished great things are the ones who…knew how to manipulate the minds of men with shrewdness…” (C, 236) Princes are able to achieve the most success if they are cunning and very crafty. According to Machiavelli there are certain qualities such as compassion, faithfulness, integrity, and kindness that a prince must appear to possess. “It is not necessary “…for a prince to have all the qualities mentioned above, but it is certainly necessary that he appear to have them.” (A, 237) The image projected of a prince enormously affects his or her popularity with the public. Machiavelli emphasizes that appearing to have the desired image wanted by the public is the key.
On December 1st the NY Times featured an article entitled, “The Governor of New Jersey Becomes a Star on YouTube”, which dealt with Governor Chris Christie’s unique use of videos and manipulation to gain the support of voters. According to Machiavelli these videos and the efforts being made by Governor Christie would be a great example of projecting a virtuous image. Although Christie is being made famous for his talking tough in the videos, he possesses the quality of being able to “…use scolding and ridicule strategically.” Most politicians don’t use YouTube in the way that Christie does. His over 163 videos have allowed to him to prevail as a republican leader in a predominantly democratic state. Christie has obtained a “myriad” amount of fans and the numbers continue to grow. This is a great example of a modern day prince, or political figure, using and applying Machiavelli’s observations and words to its fullest.
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