McCain Getting Pummeled on the Marketing Front

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"Tell a story that is memorable and remarkable and worth listening to. Seduce your customers, because that's exactly what they want you to do."

Seth Godin, on marketing

I'm realizing that, barring some cataclysmic change on the national or international stage, my choice for president '08 is going to be made right before election day. This is the first election I really care about, and I don't feel it's an easy decision. We have two very good candidates, and unlike the last election, where I felt the decision was more obvious (Bush had to at least try to finish the war), I feel clarity over who is the best candidate. I will admit to some bias. Truth is, I really like Obama and feel like I'm looking for an excuse to vote for him with a clean conscience. I also predicted he would be our next president before he declared he would run, mostly because he seems like such a great guy. But I'm worried about his policies, which is certainly no small thing. I think McCain is alright, and I like his toughness, as well as his service, and his pre-campaign policy.

All that to say, I'm doing my research. I'm pouring over the plans of each candidate, reading up on constitutional theory, trying to look empirically at the economic situation, thinking through the actual dynamics of health care plans, and even reading "The History of the American People," just to gain some perspective. I will write more about all that later, but at this point I just have one question.

Why is McCain so out of touch with the emotions of the American people? I love this guys policy perspectives - well, before he started drifting right. I trust he will drift back again. But on a more surface, simple, marketing level - what the hell is he doing? It's starting to feel like his campaign is being run by a bunch of old-fashioned, out-of-touch political science geeks. It's like a local car salesmen is running for president. I want a reason to vote for the guy, to cheer for him, to get excited. I don't want it to only be about policy. His ability to sell himself is about as clumsy as the Republican tagging machine here in Colorado (where Mark Udall, a Democrat running for Senate, is laboriously and annoyingly referred to by the Republican party leaders as "Boulder Liberal Mark Udall"...I'm bothered, and I'm for the other guy!) I don't hold McCain directly responsible for the incompetence of his marketing machine (though he is definitely responsible). But it increasingly feels like, if I vote Republican, it will be out of a strong exercise of mental discipline. Let me give two quick examples.

Early in the campaign, I signed up as a supporter of both Obama and McCain, so that I could get all the e-mails from their staff and stay up-to-date with what they were telling their volunteers. On June 19th, Obama announced he would not participate in the public campaign finance system, sending out a friendly e-mail with a message from David Plouffe, his campaign manager. The icon to the right accompanied the message, and became the image associated with the "Declaration of Independence from a Broken System." As you can see, the graphic contained daily updates detailing how they were blowing past every stated goal of grassroots fund-raising. Regardless of the flip-flop and political maneuvering, it was certainly fresh, and in a way, inspiring. Barack (as he refers to himself in his e-mails) made the announcement through a video, which made the grassroots feel of the decision even more potent. This guy is still a community organizer to the core. And he's good at it.

On the same day, I got an e-mail from the McCain camp, called "The McCain Update." I'm not really sure who "The McCain Update" is supposed to appeal to, but it's certainly not the youth or the baby-boomers. Outside of being entirely official with trite efforts at friendliness (like reading announcements at church on Sunday morning), McCain offers the opportunity to recruit friends and help "Team McCain" generate some creative ideas under the "Let's See Your Creativity!" section, where supporters are invited to design McCain posters.

But the part of the e-mail that I'm still laughing about (though I was originally appalled) is the "Pork Invaders" game which, I'm guessing, is a play off of Space Invaders, though not nearly as cool. The idea is that you fire vetoes at "pork spending projects" as they fly across the screen. I'm not joking.

Presidential race. Leader of the most powerful nation on earth. Pork Invaders?

So you tell me. "Declaration of Independence" or "Pork Invaders." Who do you think won the press battle on June 2oth?

The second example arrived today, as I awoke to watch Obama give a press conference in Amman, Jordan. It wasn't groundbreaking, but it was thoughtful, informed, and very presidential. The guy handles himself well, even though he isn't nearly as good when he doesn't have a written speech in front of him. Barack is making big news right now because of his travels oversees, and unfortunately McCain has, up to this point, based his campaign on his foreign policy experience. Too bad, then, that most people oversees want Barack to win, and a little goodwill abroad goes a long way (as Thomas Friedman pointed out in his New York Times piece.) Barack recieved a nod from the Iraqi Prime Minister regarding his plan for Iraq, and now it seems everyone (including Bush!) is talking about withdrawal timelines - something Barack has been talking about all along.

The McCain Update today is focused on a new TV ad that attacks the media for their doting coverage of Obama. No one denies that this is true - the press are in love with Obama. I don't entirely fault them. As I pointed out above, I buy into the argument that Obama is a substantially more interesting candidate. The idea of the e-mail is to get supporters to vote on an ad that plays clips of the media discussing how much they love Obama, all while playing a love song in the background. The only issue is that, for two minutes straight, this commercial does nothing but show people loving and praising Obama. I understand what McCain's camp is trying to say, but what worries me is the commercial itself. The strongest sell is by referral - people that are already excited about the product. The last thing McCain needs is even more people on TV talking about how great Obama is. For all those on the fence, it only confirms that there is genuine excitement and hope surrounding this candidate, and all McCain accomplishes is highlighting that excitement while assuming American moderates will disapprove.

I unfortunately have to bring up the embarrassing speech McCain gave after Obama's victory speech. With the green background, 12 supporters, and "A Leader We Can Believe In" - blatantly stealing Obama's line - emblazoned from banners, it was a depressing night for Republicans. McCain looked like he was about to die in the middle of his speech, given immediately after Obama delivered a powerful, historic oration as the first African-American presidential nominee of a major party.


I understand the Republican strategy of putting the spotlight on the weak candidate - placing him under the microscope, letting him crack under pressure. It worked 4 years ago against Kerry. But Obama is not Kerry. Obama is an extremely intelligent guy with serious depth, who's good at what he does, and is, quite honestly, inspiring to many Americans. He has surrounded himself with very impressive economists to assist with domestic issues, and has won the support of thoughtful, and often conservative, experts for his foreign policy positions. This guy isn't going to crack if McCain makes the race all about him. He'll ride the wave to victory while McCain is forgotten.

McCain needs to do something soon. He is still surprisingly strong in national polls (only trailing by a few points). He has to hire someone who can run a real presidential media campaign. Because it's going to take a professional miracle worker for 71 year old tough-as-nails McCain to win the media battle against fresh, inspiring, headline-making Obama.

Update: Gergen is right - Republicans know how to campaign, and it finally seems that McCain is benefiting from it. I'm not sure anything could go better for McCain than Rick Warren's forum, where Barack seemed to confirm what most people fear about him, and McCain - though not coming across as particularly nuanced - was strong, funny, and even endearing. Now we know why Obama turned down all those town hall meetings. This one is going to be neck and neck, and Rick Warren provided McCain with the miracle he needed to get in the race.