Lessons Political Consultants Learn

Even we seasoned campaigners can still learn from one another and from our clients and others involved in campaigns. Take for example my experience this weekend as a trainer in Direct Mail at the California Teachers' Association Political Training Academy in San Jose.

I was asked by a friend who's a trainer and organizer and all around amazing campaigner, to help her present a short talk on Direct Mail - my favorite topic.

Before our time to speak, we heard another veteran CTA campaigner talk about the ballot statement. How important it is and how you really can say a lot in 200 words or less. In fact, the problem has been to convince the candidates to say less, not more, in their ballot statements, not in an attempt to hide anything, but because brevity is everything in campaigns. The more text, and the denser the type, the fewer people will read it and those that do, may well miss the main points you are trying to make as they skim over the "wall of words."

I also learned that studies have shown that voters tend to look first (and possibly longest) at the side of the mail piece with their name on it. This is contrary to what many think, who think of the label side as the "back" of the mailer, and use it as a dumping ground for their long list endorsers in tiny print, or some dense language with their 12 point program on it.

Wrong. First of all, you don't know which way it will land in the mail box but chances are better than 50/50 it will be label side up as that's what the letter carrier is looking at. That's what you will see first. I wrote a blog post on this very topic in 2013.What's on the back of YOUR miler?

Second, you only get about 3 seconds of the voter's valuable time as he/she glances over your piece. Make the most of it on both sides, especially if it's a post card and those are the only sides you have.

If it's a folded piece, be mindful that both sides have to entice and lure the voter into opening it up, a process made more daunting when there is a sticky on one side, which there usually must be according to postal rules.

Knowing these and other "technical" rules, along with good graphics, a strong bulleted message and good timing, will help you send out the best and most persuasive mail you can to get voter's to cast their vote for you on Election Day.

Slow Vote

Excuses for not voting - or voting "fast"

I can't tell you the number of times I've heard people say "I couldn't decide how to vote on (school board, sewer board, water board, community services district or other down ballot race), so I just voted for the first name. That probably wasn't a good idea is it?"

Or they say "I couldn't decide who to vote for on (down ballot race) so I left it blank. Guess I should have done some homework."

Or "I didn't know who to vote for, but I've seen signs around town for (candidate so-and-so) so I just went with him. At least he went out and bought signs."

Or "I didn't vote for (so-and-so) because they called me during dinner. I never vote for someone who calls during dinner." And then they find out the guy who won, the other guy, may not have called them during dinner, but he isn't going to be looking out for their, or the district's, best interests either. 

You've heard all the excuses people have for either not voting, or leaving part of their ballot blank or voting because they saw a sign. the person was the incumbent or they had the same name as their aunt in Bakersfield. Well I have an antidote for that. I call it "Slow Vote" and I got the inspiration from a column in the S.F. Chronicle this week by Caille Millner on "Slow Reading."

Slow Vote

And she got the idea from the Slow Food movement. Slow reading is like taking your time to really read something, a book with substance that makes you think, something you can get real meaning out of, instead of skimming headlines or googling articles on topics of passing interest. Millner didn't invent Slow Reading; she heard about from other articles and just connected with it in a personal way. It made enough of an impression her to dedicate one of her weekly columns to it.

Millner learned that studies have shown that slow reading makes real differences in people's lives. A study published in Science showed that "reading literary fiction makes people more insightful and empathetic, a study in Neurology last year showing that reading helped elderly people avoid memory loss.."

So I had my own little brainstorm and thought "Slow Voting!" or "Slow Vote" (it just sounds better).

With Slow Vote, voters will actually take the time to learn about the candidates on the ballot, not just those at the top of the ticket but the down ballot races too. They will do more than watch the TV ads which are often negative and misleading.

They will do more than glance at the mail from the candidates on the way to the recycling bin. They will do more than see who the local newspaper endorsed.

They will read articles about the candidates from more than one news source. They will attend candidate forums and neighborhood coffees to meet the candidate personally and ask in-depth questions. They will read the campaign mail, all of it, from all sides, even the smaller print underneath the glowing bullet points.

Ideally, they would examine the reports made periodically to the Fair Political Practices Commission to see who has given how much money in each  race.

Will it work?

I'm a campaign consultant, I deal in bullet points and sound bites. When my clients show me their detailed plan for ending homelessness, preserving the environment or improving the District's budget, I distill it into easy to digest large print headlines and dramatic scripted scenes for mail and electronic ads.

But I'd rather send voters the whole package. Show them how smart my client is; how well though out her proposals are (assuming, that is, that they are well thought out and actually accomplishable).

But will it work? Probably not in the foreseeable future. So keep looking for mailers, RV ads and robo calls.  But do read the fine print, especially the disclaimers on the TV ads (if you can; they tend to go by pretty darned fast), and become as informed as you can be before you vote this November.

Take a deep breath and vote slow.