It's the Synergy, Stupid!

Message to all Dems out there: Listen to your good friend, James Verini!

Verini's article about his experience as a Kerry campaign volunteer shows exactly why Kerry lost.

1. Voters were not motivated to vote for Kerry, only against Bush
2. The Dem ground game was completely unorganized

I've said this before in previous posts, voters want to vote for something, not against something. Think about the way we word hot-button issues; pro-life v. pro-choice, gun rights v. gun control, marriage protection v. marriage equality, they're all spun toward the positive. We've conditioned ourselves to vote for something, no matter where we stand on an issue.

From the moment the Dem presidential primary started, the buzz was centered on, "Let's get George Bush out of office." This is why none of the volunteers Verini encountered knew anything about John Kerry, the focus of the entire campaign revolved around President Bush. The total lack of cohesive strategy on the part of the Democrats is painfully apparent when Verini made calls to recruit volunteers. Despite the majority of people admitting to being scared of the future, no one wanted to volunteer for Kerry.

Further more, the lack of volunteer/staff training on the part of the Kerry campaign is mind-boggling! For so long, Dems have heralded their grassroots organization to be superior to that of the GOP. Wake up it's not! Every volunteer/staff member should have been given a talking points sheet about Kerry including a bio, key votes, policy stances, and answers to difficult FAQs. You know things are bad when your volunteers and staff know more about your opponent's policy stances than the candidate they are working for!

The Republicans on the other hand relied heavily on local people to mainly staff their satellite offices. Everyone involved in the campaign was on message. The rural areas in major swing states (Bush's base) were the focus of the Bush ground game. Does anyone really think it's a coincidence that Bush, Cheney and their surrogates went to the smallest towns in the most hotly contested counties and states in the country? This was all part of the volunteer recruitment
/fundraising/GOTV effort.

Imagine you're living in Poplar Bluff, MO (population 16,651). It's September 2004 and MO is still considered a swing state. The entire town starts buzzing because in three days the president of the United States is coming to your hometown for a rally. Everyone scrambles to snatch up a coveted ticket and the entire community bans together to say, "How can I help?" Finally the day arrives, over 30,000 people (twice the size of the town) have come from neighboring counties and states to see the man. As President Bush delivers an inspiring speech you are energized, you feel like in a crowd of 30,000, he's somehow talking to you, asking for your vote. The next day, the town is still on a high from the excitement. You pick up the local paper only to read that you were part of the president's largest rally to date. A few days later, you come home from work and get a call from the local BC '04 or GOP HQ. They ask you to volunteer for the campaign. Now, what are you gonna say? On November 2nd, who are you going to vote for?

Synergy. The perfect word to describe the GOP strategy in 2004. Everyone one at every level was in constant communication with each other. Maybe if Verini had volunteered for the president, his article would have turned out a little differently. The word 'incompetence' would have been replaced by 'synergy' or 'strategy.'

More Motherly Advice, "Just Cause All the Other Kids Are Doing It...."

It seems like both the DNC and RNC don't know the difference between an email newsletter and a blog. I'm currently looking at both parties' "official blogs." Kickin Ass, the DNC's blog has excerpts of recent speeches by Howard Dean, quotes from Republicans and copied news stories with little "value add." Wouldn't this information be better suited to send via an email newsletter?

On the other side of the aisle, the Team Leader Blog (must be registered to view) has pretty much the same thing, remarks from the president and Ken Mehlman, news stories, press releases, etc. Again with little "value add."

Maybe the major parties shouldn't have blogs and focus more on their email newsletters. At the national level, we all know that the message is more restricted. It's like the DNC and RNC recognize that blogs are cool and hip right now, so they figure, "We should have a blog too!" Reality check: their blogs stink. Why not let outside blogs who can post the juicy stuff have free reign in this area?

Your Mother Was Right, First Impressions Mean Everything

In the Ireland/Nash chapter on Email and Newsletters, a case study highlights the importance of not sending "Please Drop Dead" emails. I completely agree with their analysis and suggestions. The first email a campaign sends to its supporters will set the tone for future emails and largely determine whether or not the subscriber will continue to open your emails or trash them along with their junk mail.

When I signed up to receive email updates from the DNC, I received this email:

Thank you for creating an account on democrats.org, and welcome to our online team. Democrats.org is an important part of our efforts to reach Democrats everywhere, and to provide you with the tools to participate in the Democratic Party and the debates important to our nation.

If you did not request this information, do not be concerned -- it has been sent to this email address only. To manage your account and email subscriptions, please click on the link below:

I will say this is more positive than the case study in the book, but the second paragraph focused on how to unsubscribe. This is not a good strategy. A better strategy would have been to encourage some sort of action on the part of the subscriber.

Here's an example of what I mean. Last month, I signed up to receive email updates from the Jerry Kilgore campaign. I instantly received a welcome email that said:

Welcome to the Virginians for Jerry Kilgore on-line community!

Thank you for signing up for our e-mail updates and becoming an important part of our team. We'll be sending the latest news and campaign updates in the coming months right to your inbox. In the meantime, please visit www.JerryKilgore.com to learn more about Jerry Kilgore and his plan for improving Virginia.

Please don't keep this information to yourself! Please invite your friends, family and neighbors to sign up for e-mail updates using the link below:

Right away, the campaign is asking me to take action. This is effective email outreach. At the bottom of the email, the campaign included a short unsubscribe line.

First impressions are lasting impressions. Campaigns using email newsletters and updates should focus on the first impression they make on subscribers. Ask yourself, do you want people to read your emails? If you answer yes, focus on making a great first impression

Opposition Research

In yesterday's post, I gave the RNC an F in Inbox Attention. In the grand tradition of opposition research, I thought I would grade an email newsletter from the DNC.

From: Andrew Wright Subject: Join Howard Dean in Washington on Tuesday

Ok, so I'm feeling better about my Republicans right now because obviously the Dems have no clue about an institutional "from"line either (Would you have guessed Andy is the DNC's Mid-Atlantic Finance Director?-Me neither). But I have to give the Dems props for at least giving a descriptive subject line so I know ole Andy is a Dem inviting me to see Howard Dean. My only critique of the subject line is that they didn't give the actual date, June 21st. How am I supposed to know which of the four Tuesdays he's talking about? The more effective subject line would have been, "Join Howard Dean in Washington on Tuesday, 6/21."

So my overall grade for the DNC on Inbox Attention would have to be a C/C-. What this shows us is that both parties have a lot of work to do in this area.