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September 08, 2004
Criteria for Electable Folks
It sure has been an interesting election. Its the first time that most of us have contributed to a campaign. Getting close to the DNC, Kerry and Move-on/ACT has been super interesting. I have no idea how the election is going to turn out, but I have to say that the Republicans have done a very good job running a drag race, but that the Democrats have mainly done just a terrible job.
Speaking as pure marketing kind of guy, I originally thought that politics was quite different from winning a drag race between two products. Now I have to say that I'm wrong. The same lessons I learned from the "Marketing Playbook":http://marketingplaybook.com seem to apply.
Since I'm getting all kinds of solicitations now. Heck, even a gubernatorial candidate called me personally, just wanted to post my manifesto for how I'll decide to back someone. It's a little contrarian in that it isn't about what they believe, but more about can they win.
So, here are the top things in order I'd ask before backing anyone:
# Team. Do they have a team that has won that office before. Most folks I've noticed take the chance to go from winning the Senate to winning the Presidency as the great career opportunity of the lifetime. IMHO, stay away from these candidates. They can't win vs. an experienced team. It reminds me of the who-ever-the-heck it is on Kerry vs. Karl Rove & Co. on the Republican side. Winning an election is not a resume builder and I don't want to back someone who is learning on the job. So, question one is all about really, does the candidate care enough to win that he'll bring in folks who have won before. BTW its the same thing in investing. There is a big difference between the CEO who can distinguish betweens his needs in a small business vs. what he needs when the business grows big.
# Message. Most people seem to focus on the need for money, but as the Swift Boat Veterans have shown, you don't need much money if the message is potent. To me, BTW that is why the Team is so important. Great teams know what is newsworthy. I find that most B teams spend most of their times looking at polls and figuring out what the electorate things or has thought. The great A teams know by experience what people will feel before the information is introduced. Having a message set, knowing the thrust and parry, that's to me what creates success. So, the first question, is does the politician have a simple message that captures the imagination. Sort of like Bush's, "I'm an honest guy you can trust to keep you safe." BTW, this is not about sloganeering. Saying we can do better is not a message, its a slogan.
# Desire. Will you do what it takes to win. The best recent example in my mind is Arnold winning the California Governorship, there is one guy who understands, you give people what they want to hear. You want lower taxes, we'll lower them. You want more services, you''ll get that too. Of course, the recent budget passed is nearly identical to what Davis proposed with the exception that you push most of the debt into the future. So the next question for me is, are you smart enough to give people what they want. It is not about explaining that things are grey and sacrifices are going to be made. That's not how you sell a product, personally I don't think it is how you win an election.
# Executive Experience. Are you the kind of person who is part of the congress or are you an executive type that has won hard elections against the other party. With all the gerrymandering of districts, its hard to believe there are any competitive congressional elections anymore, so you're not really tested. Also, being a governor means you know how to make a decision not compromise. I was doing some counting and I think the last thirty years, everyone who has won was a governor and essentially all the losers were senators (Carter - Georgia, Reagan - California, Bush -maybe the exception beat Dukakis but see rule #1 above, Clinton - Arkansas, Bush - Texas). There is something to that I think. Governors seem to know how to win vs. compromise and see the world as gray.
Posted by rich at 11:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack