Politics: Who Stepped In It
Political Consultants Don't Sit On Leads: If it didn’t happen so often, it wouldn’t be so frustrating to watch. We in Hampton Roads are lucky enough to see two examples at the same time. We get to watch two once-popular ideas get battered into unpopular ideas on the local and national level.
Locally, light-rail enjoyed consistent positive supermajority support in poll after poll, especially coming off the $4 per gallon gasoline of last summer, A good political consultant would prepare the path from support to the light rail launch with good polling, a grasp of the issues involved, and working with local media to keep the 65% idea from becoming a multi-million dollar punching bag.
Nationally, we’re watching an economic stimulus package from a new, very popular president go from majority popular support to weak minority support, with Independent voters turning their backs on economic stimulus, even in a recession.
How could either of these programs move forward without even the simplest political strategy? A school board candidate does more political preparation than the proponents of light-rail have done, and as a result, the message of light-rail as been totally lost for the near future.
Four months ago, light-rail was a reasonable alternative for high fuel prices. Today, it’s a mismanaged mishmash of cost overruns and incompetence of subcontractors when count of underwater pilings needing to be removed was 13 times higher than they counted.
Any poll taken today about the future of light-rail will be nothing more than the public’s opinion of the mistakes in Norfolk, and citizens, understandably, likely won’t have much confidence in things getting better.
A good political consultant knows polls don’t just take the public’s temperature. Polls lay out a road map for public relations. What messages move public opinion? What messages are effective? What attacks draw the most impact? Which strategy do we need to develop to benefit our message and protect against our weakest points.
Any good political candidate does this before he or she ever begins a campaign. Light-rail advocates risk waiting until public opinion solidifies beyond reasonable change while the media, usually on their side for transportation solutions, continues to make justifiable criticisms at what they’ve usually supported.
The Virginian-Pilot attacking light-rail is like Ronald Reagan attacking jelly beans. You have to be asleep at the political wheel to let things get that far out of control.
President Obama is learning the same lesson. Voters are supportive of government efforts to create jobs, but they have little patience for big payoffs that they easily understand will not create any jobs. Ask Bill Clinton how voters embraced midnight basketball as a way to fight crime in 1994, the year voters took Congressional control from the Democrats.
Obama let Congressional leaders like Speaker Nancy Pelosi manage the PR strategy of the stimulus package, and the bill is on the verge of collapse. Obama now has stepped in to stop the bleeding and save the bill.
How do you go from super support to low approval? Sit on your lead. Now light-rail and the stimulus plan have a much harder job of rebuilding lost support.
About Rourk Public Relations
Brian Kirwin is an expert at politics, political issues, government relations, political strategy, political tactics, and political campaigns, and serves as a political consultant, political campaign consultant, and political image consultant for clients in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Hampton Roads, and throughout Virginia.
For a no-cost phone consultation, feel free to call Brian Kirwin at (757) 718-3225.
