Analysis of Our Efforts
Of course, there are many things I would do differently if I had the chance. For instance, I would not have ignored the Oakridge precinct. I would have discovered more area-specific issues and exploited them. I would have had more complete research on the records of the opponents, and I would have used that knowledge. I would have organized the political action committee. I would have pushed the candidate to work harder. I would have worked harder. I would have raised more funds, and so on. Still, I believe I ran a $50,000 campaign with a $15,000 budget. Effectively using our database was the key to winning this campaign. Identifying likely voters, and focusing our money and time soliciting those people enabled the campaign to receive 283 more votes than the second place finisher, Irvin Callery (the final count was: Moorman: 1046; Callery: 763; Eggemeier: 666; Murphy: 612).
Throughout this presentation I have attempted to illustrate what I have learned by providing samples of my work, along with explanations of each piece. Still, there are strategies, techniques, and simple lessons I learned in this campaign that have not been addressed; I would like to discuss those here, in no specific order.
Ethos, Logos, and Pathos
Effective communicators know that people are persuaded by logical arguments, arguments based on the sender's credibility, and emotionally-based appeals. You may have noticed the initial correspondences, particularly the announcement letter, had arguments grounded primarily in logic. If/then statements were utilized numerous times in the letter sent to senior citizens. Highly emotive language was not frequently used. I wrote these letters with the intention of creating an image of Bernie as an intelligent, critical thinker. And I believe the letters accomplished that goal. However, in providing voters a good reason to vote for Bernie, I must ask myself, Is intelligence sufficient reason to support a candidate? Perhaps, even if a voter agreed with everything stated in every letter, it would not be enough, because it did not pull the emotional triggers, which, more than logic and credibility, cause a person to act. The act of voting for Bernie, after all, was what we wanted every voter to do. Having voters believe Bernie is intelligent is useless if they are not motivated to go to the polls. For example, a voter may agree that too much money is spent on the riverfront, and she may agree that absentee landlords are a problem in Covington, but if she does not feel strongly about those issues, she will not be influenced by the arguments.
The task, then, is to bring each issue home to the voters, to make the issues important to them; to arouse anger (especially anger) and the feeling of being cheated. Consider how many emails McDonalds must receive from satisfied customers, versus those from customers who were dissatisfied, and the concept becomes clear: people act when they are angry, not when they are content. In the case of a political candidate who is challenging an incumbent, each communication effort should be constructed to incite anger, discontent, dislike, and even hatred of the status quo. Look again at the advertisement we placed in the Kentucky Enquirer and Kentucky Post. This was one of the last communications I created for the campaign. The advertisement says nothing about Bernie's 20 years in public service, which would be an appeal to his credibility. Nor does the ad say something like, If we saved the money spent on the riverfront development, the city could build three new parks; that would be an argument based in logic. Rather, there is an appeal to voters' sense of fairness, and the insinuation that they are being cheated, something sure to arouse anger. The Hands Pike flier, another piece created late in the campaign, employed the same technique. Toward the end of the campaign I was realizing people are motivated by their feelings more than they are by logical arguments or credibility.
Techniques for Letter Writing
There are several ways to make letters seemingly more important and meaningful. First, letters with two or three pages are more effective than one page letters. Second, never use preprinted address labels; the recipients will toss it as junk mail. Third, always add a post script, usually encapsulating the most important message within the letter. Fourth, try to make the letter as personal as possible, using a database merge; about the second or third paragraph down, try to insert the recipient's name to draw their eye to the rest of the letter, and to keep them reading.
Yard Signs Don't Vote
I became nervous toward the end of the campaign when the opposition's signs started appearing everywhere. What I should have remembered is how our campaign received 75 of its own yard sign locations; that is, a landlord with many properties in the city allowed us to place them everywhere she owned a building. Yard signs serve several purposes: name recognition; uplifting campaign volunteers and creating momentum; affirming the homeowner's allegiance to the candidate (if that person requested the sign). Serving these functions, yard signs are effective, but they should not be used as a gauge to determine who is winning the campaign.
Credibility - Don't Lose It!
As a campaign manager, it is important your volunteers take you seriously, trust your decisions, are willing to follow your directions, and like your personality. A campaign manager must appear professional, and act professionally. I became aware from the beginning that everyone around me was judging my performance, waiting for me to stumble or make some disastrous decision.
One of my first personal tasks was to gain credibility in the minds of our campaign volunteers. Timeliness was a major factor; being on time for meetings and promptly returning phone calls. Also, there is an attitude that comes with the job; it means conducting meetings with authority, knowing when to talk and when to listen; being a leader, while maintaining equal status with each volunteer. It's a tricky business, becoming a leader without becoming dictatorial.
In order to gain the respect of our volunteers, I had to give them respect. There was one important time when I failed at this. I had an appointment to meet one of our helpers at his office in the Chiquita Building. We were going to use his letter folder, which wasn't a problem. The problem was the time; I had to meet him at 7:00 a.m., and I couldn't do it. I arrived an hour late, and I could sense his strong disapproval. I lost credibility. I was lucky I didn't lose him as a volunteer. From that I learned how to say, I can't do that. Rather than make promises I couldn't keep, it became important for me to make realistic assessments of my time and abilities, just like I had to do with the candidate.
Credibility is a commodity that can be earned or spent. Working with volunteers, it is the only persuasion, other than their personal dedication, that a campaign manager has to make them act. A volunteer is free to leave the campaign at any time. Unlike a job, his livelihood does not depend on participating. A campaign depends on its volunteers, so a manager must make them like him, pet their egos, reward their accomplishments, and acknowledge their importance. Otherwise, without a staff of volunteers, the campaign will go nowhere.
Targeting Voters
The major difference between this campaign and the campaign for County Commissioner was that we targeted voters in this election. We discovered their issues and exploited those issues. In the prior campaign, we used a hapless, gunshot approach, and I suspect we influenced very few people with our message (if there was a message).
Stay on Message
If your campaign does not want to appear schizophrenic to voters, maintain a consistent message. Make sure the message is in alignment with the beliefs and values of the constituency, and repeat the message over and over again. As I noted earlier, every correspondence had, essentially, the same message. Perhaps its was worded differently, but the message was the same. Attention spans are short, and making a mantra of the campaign message will help voters remember what you are trying to say.
Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan
More than a strategy, this campaign needed a working plan, a calendar of events that would have let me know from day-to-day exactly where the campaign was going, and if it had achieved its daily goals. Eventually, we did create a calendar, but if it had been done earlier, much less time would have been squandered.
I will not forget the time one of our committee meetings was interrupted by the Chair of Friends of Covington, a business group that promotes and represents the interests of businesses in the city. His "something very important to say" was that members of his group were concerned Bernie would not be able to work with Bill Butler and Corporex. He said this could cost us the election! Our plan was to - without naming names - label Butler and Corporex as one of the special interest groups to whom the city commission was beholden. That interruption threw the entire meeting into a spin. Suddenly, press releases had to be generated, meetings with Butler scheduled, a special letter created to affirm Bernie's ability to work with anyone, provided that "work" was not detrimental to the residents of the city. We lost our focus that day. But more importantly, we lost time, one of the most valuable and finite assets in a political campaign.
My point here is that a calendar has to be made, and the campaign should stick to it. That's not to say that accommodations should not be made for important issues. They should. But a campaign must carefully consider the actual importance versus the perceived importance of an issue. In the situation stated above, for example, we finally decided (two weeks later) to stay with our original message. After all, Mr. Butler would never support Bernie; Bernie testified against him before a grand jury. Besides, what weighed most heavily was we believed the residents of Covington were with us on the issue. We trusted our message because we knew it was the right message. In the end, the residents of Covington would choose their mayor, not Bill Butler and Corporex.
One final note on this topic is not to trust rumors, especially rumors about who is ahead in the polls. I heard countless "poll results" during the campaign, which I believe were seeded by the opposition to convince our campaign to shift focus.
Make a plan, remain focused, and work the plan. Keep the message consistent and do not stray from it. Know every day what the campaign should be doing, and then do those tasks. I don't mean to seem didactic, but this was a huge hurdle for me, learning to budget time. In the end, a well-prepared calendar will keep the campaign on track to accomplish the primary goal: winning an election
