Presentation (and the Nash Equilibrium of Political Meetups)
ILLUSTATED: We are the part of honest government for the public interest. So dress like it.
Presentation is the dirty little secret of politics. It’s the touchiest issue to talk about, yet it is crucial. Whether you are a candidate or a volunteer canvassing, you must be cognizant of how you present yourself. Your attire, your demeanor, the tone of your language, even your accent represents a certain theme to other people.
Hopefully you present well, meaning that others can identity with you and you are not threatening to their way of life. This means you see campaigns as a means of relating policies to the populace. Unfortunately, many candidates and volunteers come across as shrill. These people generally see campaigns as opportunities to express their own personal passions and agendas.
In other words, it’s not about you the candidate/volunteer, it’s about the populace.
When you go out and canvass, (assuming the candidate is seriously in to win, and not to raise issues) think of the theme and image of the candidate. Volunteers must represent that image in how they carry themselves.
Do not wear multiple campaign buttons, or t-shirts that scream “I Hate Republicans”. It’s shrill and in high profile elections, it turns off four voters for every one it attracts.
In the movie A Beautiful Mind Russell Crowe plays the great mathematician John Nash who contributed much to game theory. There is a scene in which Nash and his buddies are in a bar when a beautiful woman and her not so good looking friends walk in. Nash’s friends want to court the gorgeous one but then the light bulb went off. If all the guys went after the beauty, the four others would be turned off, and the beauty would leave them with her friends. The guys would have nothing. But the optimal strategy for all was to go after the average lookers. The theory applies to economics and biology (according to the movie).
In politics, the rabid passionate 2% are the analogue to the beautiful woman. If your campaign appeals to them, you turn off 80% of the general population. In a big election, your Meetups, speeches, and canvassers should be toned down to the average person who cares about elections every four years. That is the “Equilibrium”.
Meetups and campaigns that focus on proselytizing may get a buzz at first but cannot win a big election. It may work in a small town election by making a lot of noise in the town square and where only 25% vote. But in the big leagues, you must be professional.
So before you go out canvassing in tie-dye and six liberal campaign buttons, remember the motto of Gene McCarty’s antiwar campaign in 1968 (to the hippies): “get clean for Gene.” Think about that.
Presentation is the dirty little secret of politics. It’s the touchiest issue to talk about, yet it is crucial. Whether you are a candidate or a volunteer canvassing, you must be cognizant of how you present yourself. Your attire, your demeanor, the tone of your language, even your accent represents a certain theme to other people.
Hopefully you present well, meaning that others can identity with you and you are not threatening to their way of life. This means you see campaigns as a means of relating policies to the populace. Unfortunately, many candidates and volunteers come across as shrill. These people generally see campaigns as opportunities to express their own personal passions and agendas.
In other words, it’s not about you the candidate/volunteer, it’s about the populace.
When you go out and canvass, (assuming the candidate is seriously in to win, and not to raise issues) think of the theme and image of the candidate. Volunteers must represent that image in how they carry themselves.
Do not wear multiple campaign buttons, or t-shirts that scream “I Hate Republicans”. It’s shrill and in high profile elections, it turns off four voters for every one it attracts.
In the movie A Beautiful Mind Russell Crowe plays the great mathematician John Nash who contributed much to game theory. There is a scene in which Nash and his buddies are in a bar when a beautiful woman and her not so good looking friends walk in. Nash’s friends want to court the gorgeous one but then the light bulb went off. If all the guys went after the beauty, the four others would be turned off, and the beauty would leave them with her friends. The guys would have nothing. But the optimal strategy for all was to go after the average lookers. The theory applies to economics and biology (according to the movie).
In politics, the rabid passionate 2% are the analogue to the beautiful woman. If your campaign appeals to them, you turn off 80% of the general population. In a big election, your Meetups, speeches, and canvassers should be toned down to the average person who cares about elections every four years. That is the “Equilibrium”.
Meetups and campaigns that focus on proselytizing may get a buzz at first but cannot win a big election. It may work in a small town election by making a lot of noise in the town square and where only 25% vote. But in the big leagues, you must be professional.
So before you go out canvassing in tie-dye and six liberal campaign buttons, remember the motto of Gene McCarty’s antiwar campaign in 1968 (to the hippies): “get clean for Gene.” Think about that.
posted by Teka Thomas at 8:24 PM
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