And so I now write another post about healthcare. Most of my threads have been about why Obama and the Democrats have been losing the healthcare debate. This one follows that trend. In this post I focus again on marketing and selling ideas. More beneath the fold.
First of all I must focus first on how Americans view politics. At the outset the GOP knows and understands how Americans approach politics more than the Democrats. GOP strategists like Frank Luntz and the late Lee Atwater understand how Americans think. They know how Americans view politics and their grasp of the issues. I'll explain more in the next paragraph.
At the outset today is a summer day in August (I began writing this diary on Sunday). The question that I'll ask people is rhetorical: How many Americans are out blogging and talking politics today? How many Americans are talking about healthcare reform? The answer is simple: probably not many. While there is some interest, on a day like today, most people are out with their families having fun, BBQing, or spending time with their children. Other people may be out at the gym working out, swimming in the pool, or going for jogs. Tonight they'll be watching reruns of their favorite primetime shows or maybe watching Big Brother on CBS. They're not going to be out here reading posts or debating healthcare.
The other point is that most people aren't going to take the time to research the issue. The fact is that most people have neither the time nor the interest. They aren't going to go online and research complex policy issues. Their main priorities are taking care of their families, spending time with the children, having fun, and watching TV. Most people fall into the category that analysts euphemistically call low information voters. However you perceive these voters is up to you but most people in America fall into that category.
Having established that most Americans aren't interested in politics we can now address marketing and PR efforts. The GOP knows that most Americans get their news from either the cable networks or the 30 minute evening newscast that CBS, NBC, and ABC put on every night. They know that the most exposure that they will get to the healthcare issue is either those newscasts or the 30-60 ad that they will see on TV. Thus GOP strategists like Luntz and Atwater design campaigns for those types of voters. The GOP is better at reaching voters like that than the Democrats. And keep in mind that most voters fall into that category.
Back when he was Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich ran GOPAC. GOPAC had a list of words that it had poll-tested and focus-group tested to which they would link Democrats. Words that they used effectively were "criminals' rights, lie, cheat, steal, special rights". They knew what words would resonate with low information voters. They knew how to quickly convince voters to support their agenda through slick marketing.
That is why, early on in the debate, groups like Conservatives for Patients Rights
and Patients United Now have been running ads since the winter demonizing any form of meaningful healthcare reform. In almost all of their ads they use specific words like "government run healthcare", "Canadian-style healthcare", and "bureaucrats". Their ads implore Americans not "to let the government come between them and their doctors". They know that most low information voters have negative views of the government and the government running anything, so they market their ads to those points. Until recently these ads and their lies had gone unchallenged.
The pro-reform side did not start airing ads until recently. Also the pro-reform side did not have a unifying message. The problem is that, if I polled 10 low information voters off the street, if one or two could articulate the Democratic position, that would be doing good. However, most of those voters could easily repeat the GOP talking points without any problems.
For the next policy debate or major legislative push here are my suggestions:
- Obama should announce a clear goal and tell Congress what he exactly wants.
- Obama should talk to Democrats in both chambers, all Democrats, and get them all on board before announcing a plan publicly.
- Go on the TV and start airing ads early. Don't let the right-wing groups start airing ads first.
- Or if the GOP and right wing groups start running ads first, immediately respond to them. Don't let their lies go unchallenged.
- Have short and brief soundbites that people can easily remember.
- Realize that the majority of people are "low information voters" and that the ad that they see on TV is probably the most that they'll know about the issue.
- On websites that have policy proposals, have short brief executive summaries and then links that allow people to look further if they want to know more. People aren't going to read a very long policy paper.
These are just some of my suggestions. The left needs to learn these marketing techniques or they will lose future policy debates.
[And a sidenote for front page authors: Last night I saw a great post on the Front Page about the Cash for Clunkers Program. It had great points.
There's just one problem: It's way too long for the front page. Many people coming to the site will not read it when they see that the post is that long. At the risk of offending the front page contributors, when you publish content for the main site, it would improve your post to have a short executive summary with an invitation for people to read more beneath the fold. It would communicate your ideas more effectively.]