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Political Messaging. What is Message?. Campaign Message is the core information communicated by the campaign to accomplish it ’ s two central functions. To convince persuadable voters who will go to the polls to support our candidate.
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What is Message? Campaign Message is the core information communicated by the campaign to accomplish it’s two central functions.
To convince persuadable voters who will go to the polls to support our candidate. • To motivate our supporters to go to the polls who will not do so unless they are mobilized.
A Good Electoral Persuasion message is About: The Candidate or Party
Illustrate with TV Spots – First One Ever Used in Presidential Election:
Is the Candidate committed to something other than himself – Does he or she have core values?
Do I like or make an emotional connection with the Candidate?
Concrete • Tells a Story • Describes a Personal Quality • Makes and Issue Real • Is Evocative
Thin Slicing – The Adaptive Unconscious The Importance of the Snap Judgment – Sometimes less is more.
Most communication about people (including candidates) is non verbal. • The eyes and face allow people to “read your mind”. • Your posture. • Your gate. • Your cloths.
People act themselves into a belief or commitment more easily than they can be “convinced” by argument. Rooting for your team is a form of “acting” – by making an emotional investment in the team you become a believer in what it “stands for”.
Two Foundations of Political Communication: • Framing • Naming
Frames • Deep Frames • Surface Frames
Examples of Framing the Political Dialogue • “We want to cut taxes and reduce the size of government”. • “They want to take food from the mouths of poor children to give tax breaks to millionaires.”
Naming • Eliminate the “Inheritance Tax.” • Eliminate the “Death Tax.”
4 Cs of Good Political Communication: • Clear • Concise • Contrastive • Convincing
The Message Pyramid for Political Campaigns www.thecampaignnetwork.com
Executing A Message Plan in a Campaign Step 1: Define Yourself and Your Opponent
What Candidate Says About Self What Candidate Says About Opponent What Opponent Says About Self What Opponent Says About Candidate Tully Message Box
Step 2Control the Dialogue • Emphasize our Comparative Advantage. • Neutralize The Opponent’s Comparative Advantage.
The Candidate that Controls the Dialogue – that stays on the offensive – Almost always wins the election.
Candidate and Opposition Research • Polling • Focus Groups
Political People Are Not“Normal People” – Normal People Think About Politics 5 Minutes a Week. If we try to decide what is persuasive to normal people without asking them – we will be wrong.
What you think you say may be different than what people hear.
Don’t Just Measure “what” people think. Measure How Intensely they feel about it.
