I have often joked that journalists have the attention span of gnats. The “hot” news of the day is back-page filler the next – if that.
Consumers have the same tendency but it’s not their fault. News can change in a digital minute.
Take this year’s presidential race for example.
It was former President Donald Trump vs. President Joe Biden. Biden was pushed out after a bad debate performance. Trump was hit by a would-be assassin’s s bullet. Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic contender.
Harris, meanwhile, holds no press conferences or sits for any interviews, and her poll numbers shoot up. It’s like she’s the new, shiny object yet she has been part of the administration for the past 3 ½ years.
It’s not a new strategy. When I was a political science major in college in the late ‘70s I became aware of the following basic plan:
- Show the flag.
- Avoid discussing issues. At best, be vague.
Floridians are used to it. Left-leaning candidates come across as conservatives. Republicans outnumber Democrats and the country tends to be center-right politically.
- Make promises, no matter how unrealistic.
- Have campaign signs printed red, white and blue, or the colors of the top state university.
- Show the family, including the dog.
- Come across as something new and fresh. Voters, more uninformed than ever thanks to the gospel of the internet, can end up like cats chasing laser pointer dots on the floor.
- Smear your opponent.
Legend has it that when longtime U.S. Rep. Claude Peppers ran for office the first time in the Panhandle in the early 1960s his opponent called him “an extrovert and a thespian.” They also called him “Red” (communist) Pepper.
Supposedly, the first time President Lyndon Johnson ran for Congress he accused his opponent of committing the most loathsome sex crimes. When an aide pointed out the ethics of committing such a falsehood he reportedly said, “Let him deny it.”
Exaggeration, fearmongering, insults, name-calling and low-rent behavior are proven winners. The losers are voters trying to make a wise decision in the voting booth without having to hold their noses.