As the summer's Democratic and Republican national conventions illustrated, the presidential campaign will be a carefully crafted production trying to get favorable images to the public via the media. A look at the image-making strategies of the campaigns was provided by political veterans Michael Deaver, Leslie Dach, Mark Mellman and Ed Rollins, who came together in The Library of New York's Historical Society on Sept. 12 to offer their thoughts on the campaign and its candidates. The event was sponsored by Edel-man Public Rela-tions Worldwide, where three of the four now work.
Images and Impressions
Michael Deaver, executive vice president and director of Edelman Public Affairs, Washington, D.C., said the campaigns' communications and image strategy are based on an understanding of how and why Americans form their opinions. It's all about feeling and impressions, he said, which for many voters, override the intellectual and the substantial. But the ability to get across the right image is dependent on the decisions of television reporters. Since about 80 percent of voters get their information from TV, says Deaver, we are handing over the power to the media to interpret and report the news however it sees fit.
TV coverage was especially important during the conventions, said Deaver, a former communications advisor to President Reagan. Each party was given time slots on prime-time TV, and had to make the most of it. So they created a show designed specifically to make voters believe the positive images of the candidates and their respective parties, guest speakers, interviews and film clips.
Deaver quoted Maureen Dowd, staff writer for The New York Times, to sum up his thoughts about Clinton's apparent ability to connect with his audience: "if we have to choose between the one who ignores us and the one who caters to us, why wouldn't we choose the one who seems to be listening."
Conveying a positive tone also is important in communicating and persuading the public, said Leslie Dach, managing director of Edelman Public Affairs Worldwide, Washington, D.C. At the Democratic Convention, Clinton made small, meaningful promises to America and appeared presidential, optimistic and energetic, said Dach.
As in marketing, selling goods by comparing them with competitors' seems to work in political communication. Ed Rollins, executive vice president and director of Edelman Public Affairs, New York, and a former Republican political consultant, called Clinton a "tremendous campaigner" who has seriously improved his image. One answer could be the strategy Clinton has adopted as a campaign theme since 1994, "if you think I'm bad, look at those guys," he said.
(Edelman Public Relations Worldwide, 212/768-0550; Mellman Group, 202/625-0370)