One of the questions often debated, late at night, around the metaphorical campaign campfire, is whether elections are about the past or the future.

Political scientists armed with econometric models have been debating it for decades: Do voters look to the future, asking themselves which candidate is more likely to make us prosperous after the election, or do they look backward, punishing those who delivered a poor economy and rewarding those who create abundance? Despite all the analyses and increasingly complex equations, the econometricians still have no clear answer.

Nonetheless, they have teased out some complexities. How does a voter determine which candidate will bring about a better economy? Surely it is not by comparative examination of the relative future efficacy of each element of competing 10-point plans. Future expectations are driven importantly by past experience.

Indeed, neuroscience tells us experience can leave an indelible physical imprint on the brain, conditioning how we interpret future events.  This interplay between past and future was on vivid display in the contrast between two successful mayoral campaigns in which we had the honor to participate over the past year.

In many ways, our clients in those two cities were quite different. Mayor Dave Bing of Detroit is an African-American basketball great and businessman. Mayor