En tu idioma / In your own language

Eduardo del Buey
Foto: Notimex
La Jornada Maya

Martes 29 de noviembre, 2016


[i]Why?[/i]

That is the essential question of any political campaign.

Why?

Why are you running?

Why do you want to govern?

Why should people vote for you?

In a political campaign, a candidate must underscore why he or she is the best candidate for the job. It is becoming increasingly clear across many recent elections and uprisings that people are tired of the “establishment” offering the same old bromides and platitudes, and are looking for someone who listens to their concerns and reflects their aspirations.

The recent US Presidential campaign was not the first time a campaign had been guided by a few choice words that stated clearly why the candidate should be elected. In 1992, Bill Clinton’s successful campaign revolved around “It’s the economy, stupid”, a message that resonated with a mass of voters disenchanted after twelve years of trickle-down economics that didn’t address their concerns, and looking for something different. Indeed, Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign song, “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” more or less summed up his vision and message.

In the recent US political campaign, Donald Trump had an answer – “Make America Great Again”. This underscored each of his campaign promises. He spoke to the middle and lower class frustration at being disenfranchised in a globalized economy, the frustration of hundreds of thousands of jobs lost in key rust belt swing states, and their antagonism against the political elites that brought eight years of gridlock in Washington.

“Make America Great Again” harkened to a simpler time, to a time when immigrants came from Europe and shared values and history with the American mainstream. As immigration and settlement moves from the concept of “melting pot” to “community of communities”, it appears that many Americans feel increasingly displaced in their own country, leading many to listen to Trump’s arguments with a more open mind.

Clinton could well have won the swing states had she had a simple yet powerful message, and had she concentrated her efforts on those states that were not firmly in her camp (Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan). But she lacked a central core message as to why she should be elected, other than it was her turn.

“Stronger together” was her theme, and it looked more like a weak response to Trump rather than a strong vision of its own. It did little to energize her base or that of her Democrat opponent in the primaries, Bernie Sanders, and even less to galvanize the disenfranchised in “swing” states. Bad messaging on her part, and bad planning on the part of her campaign.

In the end, Trump’s excellent messaging (whether or not you agree with the message), and Clinton’s poor strategy of engaging the elites (thousand dollar a plate dinners, celebrity endorsements) rather than campaigning in swing states, not dealing with her issues early on and coming clean, and not managing the media strategically, did her campaign in.

While she is about two million votes ahead in the popular vote, her lack of strategic campaigning and her inability to connect with voters in swing states cost her the election that counts – the Electoral College.

Trump played to emotion, while Clinton played to reason. This said, his appeal to emotion was very carefully calculated and crafted and aimed at voters in crucial swing states. The late American poet Maya Angelou once wrote that people will forget what you say, and will forget what you do, but will never forget how you made them feel.

And Trump made the disenfranchised voter in swing states feel good again, good that someone was listening to their concerns about their future.

Trump answered “why?” in passionate terms, and to carefully targeted audiences, and won.

This is the secret to a successful campaign in this era of instant communications and 24/7 media coverage.

Speak with passion and certainty, plan your communications campaign carefully, speak in specific terms to target audiences, outline a vision that appeals to that electorate’s soul, and engage with the media, and count your votes.

It seems to be that easy.

Mérida, Yucatán