Forget About the Pollen and Get Outside Now

Americans have always loved the underdog, the outsider.  From the birth of our nation by rising up against the British Empire, to the Butler Bulldog fever of last week’s Final Four, we just can’t help but be enamored by the thought of the “little guy” being successful.

Well, for all my political friends out there - some useful advice for 2010:

Be the outsider. Be the underdog. And if you can’t be the outsider, you better have something to show for being an insider.

Voters Are Angry - Really Angry

Voter angst isn’t news, but what is news is just how angry voters really are.  With an economy in the toilet, repeated and flagrant ethics problems by politicians at all levels and both parties, voters have finally reached their “disgust saturation.”

Look no further than this WSJ / NBC poll, in which voters gave Congress a 17% approval rating.  Most revealingly, this survey found that a majority of voters would replace every member of Congress, including their own member, if they were offered that option at the ballot box. 

Wow. 

A note to my non-Congressional friends - don’t think for a minute that this same disgust doesn’t exist towards State Legislatures, County Commissions, School Boards, or City Councils.

What This Means for Candidates

The bad news is, if you’re an incumbent, this can be a really tough environment in which to run for re-election.  Generally speaking, voters aren’t happy with the job you’re doing, or rather, the job your institution is doing.  The good news is, if you’re not a member of the majority party, you’ve got some wiggle room to place the failures of your legislature or commission at the feet of the “insiders.”

Regardless, if you’re an incumbent running in 2010, you’d better find a reform, a success, an accomplishment, or at minimum, a sincerely, passionately, and (hopefully) publicly-fought effort at reform or solving problems that you can to show to the voters.  By doing this, elected incumbents can demonstrate their separation from the “system” so despised by voters of all political stripes.

If you’re not an incumbent, you can run a clear line “against the system” and join the masses in clamoring for reform.  But it takes more than an angry bomb-thrower to beat an entrenched incumbent.  With voter confidence at an all-time low, this year’s elections could come down to the candidate we can trust vs. the least threatening alternative. 

It’s All About Trust

Just because you’re not an incumbent doesn’t mean you don’t have to earn the trust of the voters, perhaps by outlining specific proposals, or at least reasonable ideas, for addressing the problems of your state, district, or city. 

Earning trust will be a big part of how voters make decisions this year.  It’s a lot harder to earn it back once you’ve lost it. Candidates on the inside and the outside should remember this.

Is Direct Mail Dead?

The other day I was talking with a very tech-savvy person who also happens to be a candidate for office.  In our friendly discussion about campaigns and communicating, he said to me,

“You know, I’m a tech guy.  I thought direct mail was so yesterday.  I’ve learned I’m wrong.”

WHEW! For a minute there I thought I had missed something.  However, this story illustrates a very important point in the midst of the post-Obama-revolution-in-campaign-communications-era:

Direct mail is not dead.

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