The GOP: PowerPointing Out The Marketing Of Politics

Lest you think that I am just going to jump on the Democratic party bandwagon and take advantage of the publication of a very embarassing Republican party fundraising strategy document, think again. There’s a lot more here than just a partisan opportunity to drive a wedge between the GOP and it’s biggest sponsors. So far, the Democrats are doing a pretty good job of that anyway, as well as using the document to give their own base a much needed stirring up. I would prefer to explore the larger issue here; the development of direct marketing in political fundraising.


When I meet with political cynicism, all too common these days, I invariably respond by pointing out that I know a lot of politicians personally. Most of them, both republicans and democrats, venture into the political arena with the noblest of intentions. Once in the game, however, they are soon corrupted by what it takes these days in order to get (and stay) elected. The average member of the United States House of Representatives, for example, will spend more than half of their efforts on raising money alone, every day of their lives. Being that they must run for reelection every two years, they remain in a near perpetual state of both campaigning and fundraising. They are forever speaking to either those individuals who have enough money to make a difference or to the representatives of large organizations which pool their finances in order to wield massive influence.

The notion that a few regular Americans who attend a few “town hall” meetings during Summer recess in order to voice their feelings can ever compete with the larger organized interests is absurd. Most of America feels drowned out of our national political conversation. They just don’t stand a chance. A potential remedy has emerged to this situation. Fundraising through the internet. But internet fundraising has a glaring negative side. Since you are no longer meeting donors face to face but rather reaching out to an anonymous and unseen throng, a strategy must be used to make your efforts as effective as possible. Enter, the science of marketing.

I read somewhere recently that thirty years ago the average American saved nearly 9% of their yearly income. Today that number has plummeted to just over 2%. I will be the first to blame this on the dominance of right wing economic policies which have frozen real incomes while the cost of living continues to climb. However, this is not the entire story. Advances in the science of parting us from our money must also be considered. If you’ve ever worked in retail you know exactly what I’m saying. If you’ve ever joined an organization of any kind only to find yourself inundated with mailers from twenty similar groups, then you’re familiar. Heck, if you’ve recently seen a television commercial or any other advertisement, you know there’s been major advances in this science. With their constant need for more and more organizational and advertising dollars, is it any wonder that the two major political parties in this country have availed themselves of marketing experts? The only mystery is why it took them so long to catch up to private industry.

As with most innovations in politics lately, Democrats lagged years behind Republicans in utilizing this valuable tool. From the development of “wedge” issues to the narrowing of presidential campaigns down to specific “swing” states, the Democrats have always been second across the finish line. Despite this, it is clear now that the GOP has fallen behind in the race to raise large sums of cash through modest contributions from masses of internet donors. Federal Election Commission numbers as of Feb. 25, 2010, as reported on opensecrets.org, show that the Democratic party has 50% more “cash on hand” than the Republicans and has been outraising the GOP by almost 2 to 1.

If such numbers seem like a direct contradiction to the current “liberal” news media narrative that Democrats are running for the hills, as a Johnstown-like flood of conservatism bears down upon them, you can join me as a skeptic of Republican certainty of majority status next year. More money does not always result in more votes, as Ross Perot can tell you. It is a pretty good indicator, though, of which party has the more motivated base, a crucial factor in the mid-term election year. It was in this atmosphere of GOP frustration, where their fundraising numbers don’t even come close to expectations, that Republican Finance Director Rob Bickhart set out to redefine their entire strategy. His presentation may now seem both offensive to liberals and condescending to conservatives but this is just how marketers see and attempt to motivate their target demographics.

Marketers must view people in broadly defined groups. There is no room for individuality in marketing. A marketer never sees your face, doesn’t know your kids and is only concerned with your core values as much as they can help him/her successfully connect your money with his/her client. Political marketing is no different and you really can’t expect it to be. If there’s a Tea Party activist out there who believes that anyone from the staff of the RNC Finance Dept. would even consider joining them and carrying a sign about Obama’s birth certificate, let me deliver the disappointing news now; not happening. These are paid professionals, not true believers. Democrats should not imagine that things are much different on their side either. I may not currently work for the DNC but, if my email inbox is any indication, there’s probably an equal amount of crass marketing strategy going on there as well.

There is an upside to this story. While internet fundraising may be the domain of marketers who couldn’t care less about your causes, the rise of internet organizing and activism have put a little more political power back in your hands or, more precisely, your fingertips. Activists from both left and right can claim recent victories as the result of such immediate communication. For example, the left used the internet to kill a 2004 attempt by the Sinclair Media Group (an activist conservative company which owns a network of hundreds of local TV stations) to air a film smearing then Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry under the guise of a “special news report”. The right can point to the rising momentum of the Tea Parties. If you’re a believer in civic participation and representative democracy, as I am, then this use of the internet is a welcome part of the evolution of our democracy.

My partisan feelings did cause me a moment of sheer delight at first sight of this story. Politico.com reported that an unnamed Democrat, who said that a hard copy of the presentation had been “left in the hotel”, had provided the internet news service with said document. This fact leaves me to wonder if there isn’t a left wing counterpart to ACORN “Pimp” James O’Keefe running around out there. Political espionage is so much fun! Less fun in this case for the RNC who, upon being asked a question about the fundraising presentation, immediately fired off a preemptive email to their regular donors. The Politico story also quoted a major GOP donor as describing current relations between the party and their financial sponsors in a single word, “disastrous”. So much for “putting the fun back in fundraising”, the presentation’s title. Not only has this further upset their formerly reliable “country clubbers” but it could serve to alienate the more socially conservative grassroots as well. Both subgroups were treated more callously in this strategy session than the RNC would ever want to see the light of day.

In less than twelve hours from publication of this story, I received emails from the Democratic party (DNC), Democratic Senatorial Committee (DSCC) and Democratic Congressional Committee (DCCC), each using the Republican document in order to raise money for Democrats. When the other party gets to use your own fundraising strategy ideas to boost their donations while the presentation of this strategy will likely turn off your donors, it can be considered a screw up of collossal proportions. Permit a liberal to smile, if only for a moment. After all, for now it is but a tempest in a teapot. It won’t alter the debate on health care. It won’t jump start job growth. It won’t defeat terrorism and it won’t cause any of those rabid right wingers to suddenly treat President Obama with a single ounce of respect. The curtain has only momentarily been lifted on the cynical nature of political marketing. What we do with this information will determine whether this story gains importance over time or simply fades into historic anonymity.

A Follow Up: Politics Daily is reporting tonight that a major GOP donor, Atlanta’s Mark DeMoss, who is also founder of The Civility Project, a bipartisan group dedicated to restoring an atmosphere of mutual respect between political rivals, has written a publicized letter to RNC Chairman Michael Steele in which he states that he will no longer contribute to the Republican party directly.

Maybe this story will have more long term impact than I expect?

Paul Roth, Jr.