Drink The Kool-Aid Or Stay Home
For the last few weeks America has watched the two candidates for President stump across the country. Appearing often in close proximity to one another, they hope to earn the votes of the citizens who see them on the stump and go home feeling better about the future of the nation.
This election presents some interesting twists on the usual strategies. Polls are incredibly close and the number of swing voters decreases with each passing set of data. Even some Republican pollsters have conceded swing voters as Democratic leaners.
In response, recent reports show that both Democrats and Republicans are now attempting to reach out to new voters. Relying to heavily on unregistered and unreliable voters is a risky proposition. In every election cycle some candidate promises to "bring new people to the process" but usually crashes and burns in the attempt. Non-voters are an unknown and are traditionally ignored.
Yet in this election, where both sides are flush with cash, registering even a precious few will make the difference in November. Investing time and dollars in reaching these people and then getting them to turn out may prove the best strategy at this point in the race.
The Christian Science Monitor recently reported on uncertain gains from the $250 million spent so far on political advertising. The steady stream of trashing and touting has failed to move polls, much to relief of the Kerry campaign who experienced an unprecedented pre-convention series of attacks from the Bush-Cheney campaign.
The failure of this early spending is resulting in more emphasis on voter registration, GOTV efforts, and good ol' stump speaking.
As Kerry and Edwards wind their way accross America in Harry Truman's old train-car, Bush and his non-running-mate companion John McCain have not been far behind. Yet there has been an important distinction between the outreach efforts of the two candidates as they woo crowds of onlookers and reach out through the free advertising of local new coverage.
Appearing before crowds or for questions, they ask citizen's to choose one of them over the other in November. Yet one of these candidates seems a little too eager to be seen only with cheering crowds and to ensure that the "citizen questions" he is asked are predictably sympathetic.
After months of "ticket only" events for George W. Bush campaign stops, we learned that in order to attend a Dick Cheney rally citizens were being required to sign loyalty oaths. Copies of the document leaked to newspapers read "I, (full name) ... do herby (sic) endorse George W. Bush for reelection of the United States." It later adds that, "In signing the above endorsement you are consenting to use and release of your name by Bush-Cheney as an endorser of President Bush."
In West Virginia, two protesters were dragged away from a July 4 event in handcuff for wearing anti-Bush T-shirts. Audience members holding T-shirts with a pro-choice message were evicted from a Bush-Cheney event in Michigan.
In Oregon, Republicans are requiring attendees at tomorrow's Bush rally to put in a few hours working a phone bank.
Reports of these requirements in the local press seems to undermine to the purpose of local campaign stump speeches. By so brazenly limiting the audience to adoring fans the Bush campaign is clearly focussing on the images produced by the event. Giving up on convincing people in person is an especially risky strategy if it carries with it the baggage of negative local press coverage for excluding members of the community.
All the while, Kerry travels the country speaking to audiences populated in part by hecklers.
Leading into the Republican convention, the political landscape is unclear. The Republicans appear to have conceded swing voters and Bush appears to be playing follow-the-leader by scheduling events in the same place as Kerry. His tendency to limit attendance to events will only be amplified as the Republicans put on their convention show in a city hostile to their politics.
Who is this guy?
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