As non-Presidential election campaigns go, Campaign '98 featured some very tough races across the country in which ad budgets soared, tempers flared, reputations were maligned and the majority of voters stayed home - as usual. For the first time in recent mid-term election memory, the party in the White House actually gained House seats and fought to a draw in the Senate races.Regardless of one's politics, there are important public relations lessons to be drawn from the campaign.
1. Don't turn a lynching into a suicide
The polls showed most Americans didn't want impeachment and the President's popularity ratings remained stubbornly high. Some Republicans attempting to benefit from the President's troubles either bored the voters or angered them enought to lose. Republican Bob Inglis discovered this in his bid to unseat long-time South Carolina Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings by campaigning on the Monica Lewinsky matter.
The noose already was around the President's neck, placed there either by his own actions or by Ken Starr, depending on your point of view. Nevertheless, candidates like Washington's Helen Chenowith, who tried to "kick the stool away" by pointing a finger at Clinton, often found the fingers pointing the other way.
On the other hand, some Democrats, like Maryland Governor Parris Glendenning, initially distanced themselves from the President, but moved back toward him as the campaign came to a close. In the end, Glendenning was practically pleading with the President to campaign for him, and he did. Glendenning won.
2. Manage expectations
Politics, like business, is a game of expectations. With Republican strategists projecting possible gains of up to 35 House seats and a "veto-proof" Senate, expectations were too high. The polling numbers and narrow margins in many key races made them unrealistic. So the Democratic gain of five House seats and a draw in the Senate appeared more a win for Democrats even though they remain in the minority.
3. Create a Clear Message that Resonates with your Public
Although the public had demanded clear positions and a focus on core issues, the Republicans were unclear about what issues they wanted the voter to focus on. If the public rejects your premise (elect Republicans because the President committed adultry) then move on.
4. Doing well on your opponent's issues means you're already losing
Campaigns like the D'Amato-Schumer race in New York were highly negative and employed attack ads vigorously. Each candidate was forced at times to go on the defensive, costing valuable campaign time. In the final days, D'Amato was hard hit by allegations fed to the media by the Schumer camp that he had used a pejorative Yiddish term; he seemed genuinely at a loss to explain it. Schumer gained momentum in the final day and D'Amato was defeated (and deflated).
5. Paid advertising can energize core supporters but not swing voters
Indications are that both parties used the final days of the campaign to shore up their core bases with attack ads in recognition that swing voters would not be moved by them.
The Republican's anti-Clinton ads in key states succeeded in cutting their losses by appealing to their core conservative base. Although many pundits criticized Newt Gingrich for authorizing the ads, it was clear he saw that many more seats would be lost if he didn't move quickly.
The Republicans probably saved more seats by shoring up their support among core voters in vulnerable districts just before the clock struck midnight.
6. In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed jack is king
With many politicians scurrying for every scrap of support no matter how questionable, it was refreshing to see candidates succeed on their own terms, without relying on major party machinery. In the Minnesota governor's race, Reform party candidate and former professional wrestler Jesse "the Body" Ventura, put a successful headlock on political heavyweights like Hubert "Skip" Humphrey III and Norm Coleman to grab the gold.
7. You have to be for something, not just against something
With Republicans holding a majority in both houses of Congress, they found it difficult to whip up outrage to their benefit. Democrats, on the other hand, could use the death of popular legislation such as the HMO "Bill of Rights," campaign finance reform and anti-smoking legislation, to run against a Republican controlled "Congress that named buildings," just as Harry Truman had in 1948 running against a "Do Nothing Congress."
8. Victory has a thousand parents; but defeat is an orphan
Newt Gingrich knew the way the world works and did the honorable thing when the race was done in a classy way. He learned a lesson the PR world knows well: it's not necessarily the product but the strategic communication that positions it accurately, packages it attractively and markets it effectively that is going to succeed.
Barry J. McLoughlin is president of Barry McLoughlin Associates Inc., strategic communications counsel, with offices in Washington, D.C., Princeton, N.J., and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He can be reached at [email protected].