Columns:: Primary messages: Political scientist studies campaign communication strategies of presidential candidates

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Columns::September 22, 2003

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Primary messages
Political scientist studies campaign communication strategies of presidential candidates

By Beth Roberts
beth@uga.edu

Audrey Haynes, assistant professor of political science, specializes in presidential nomination campaigns--particularly in

Audrey Haynes is particularly interested in why candidates drop out of the presidential nomination process. (Photo by Peter Frey)

candidate strategy as it relates to message and communication strategy. She is, of course, watching carefully as the Democratic candidates maneuver through these first rounds of the coming presidential primaries, and spoke with Columns about what she’s seeing.

Columns: Howard Dean’s campaign must seem especially interesting with its use of the Web.

Haynes: Yes--Dean’s campaign has set a new standard for Web-based recruitment of supporters and fundraising. He has raised more than $5 million via the Internet this year, and he has close to a quarter of a million subscribers to his e-mail list. Already other campaigns have followed suit.

Columns: Is there any connection between his political “message” and his use of the Internet?

Haynes: Any candidate can use the Web, and all of them are doing so, but the Web would not work as a message medium and organizational tool if Dean had not had a message that got people going.
A candidate’s message is like a gift. It can be wrapped up in elaborate paper that attracts you to it. But once you open it, if there’s not something inside that you like, it doesn’t matter how pretty the packaging was. So the Web is not creating his support, but it is helping direct his support and it is helping his support find him.
Generally, campaigning is becoming more sophisticated. It used to take a jingle to sell a bar of soap or a candidate. Now it takes a marketing campaign and each time the product has to be “new and improved.”

Columns: So Dean’s use of the Web indicates a kind of increased level of campaign sophistication.

Haynes: It does. But initially Dean was resistant to some of the non-traditional elements of the Web site, such as the use of the fundraising meter/thermometer. In fact, he was going to go with his old cadre of campaign strategists and consultants, but a few people on the inside told him to notch it up a degree and spend the money on a top-flight consulting team. They’ve done an incredible job.

Columns: Creating a new and improved product?

Haynes: Well, nothing in politics is ever really new and improved, but in terms of image people do seem to categorize politicians as “been there, done that” and “new and maybe better.” Respectable and well-known candidates such as Gephardt and Lieberman get labeled as non-viable--“can’t win the nomination”--because of a past history of losing.
But then, here is Dean, who came out of nowhere. What makes him stand out? Well, it could be a message that actually “resonates” with the public.

Columns: It is pretty early in the process.

Haynes: Yes, and the distribution across the top candidates is close. Dean, Lieberman, Kerry and Gephardt are all in the teens. It is difficult to truly distinguish at the national level how close they really are, given the margin of error in the polls (usually 3 to 4 percent plus or minus). One thing to remember is that candidates get winnowed out as the campaign progresses. Their support has to go somewhere. So this campaign should be very dynamic in nature once the primaries do their job of producing a survivor. Dean, Lieberman, Gephardt, Kerry and Edwards are all considered potentially viable candidates.

Columns: The other candidates seem to have less of a chance.

Haynes: Yes. Sharpton, Moseley-Braun, Kucinich, Graham--they’re all considered long shots. For example, Al Sharpton is not a career candidate. He is not running to win, because he knows he can’t win. He’s a policy seeker, so he may stay in until the very end. He doesn’t need any money to run that kind of campaign. Take a look at his Web page. If the Dean Web page is a package wrapped in beautiful paper, Sharpton’s Web page is in a paper bag.
But his message is powerful. He is the reminder to the Democratic Party that they cannot forget the African-American vote.
Other candidates are struggling with their message. One of the major criticisms of John Kerry is that he is lacking a strong message; he cannot seem to articulate why he wants to be president.

Columns: How would you describe Dean’s “message”?

Haynes: “I’m smart,” but also “I’m responsible, I can make tough decisions.” He has said that repeatedly. The newer part of his message is more “I will fight for the soul of the party, but you can’t pin me down ideologically.”
There’s some conflict there. Many of his supporters are liberals, but Dean, in many ways, differs from the traditional liberal stereotype. He drives an SUV (gets a lot of parking tickets, by the way), he supports the death penalty, he supported NAFTA, and so on. But of course he gained most of his attention through his condemnation of the war in Iraq.
Other candidates are trying to just get their message out to the public. Edwards has an interesting message. His focus is his roots--the kid of a millworker (Gephardt has similar working-class roots) and the American Dream. He is really focusing on the basic domestic issues that have helped the Democrats win office in the past--health care, education, jobs. We will see if he can reach the people.
And they are the ones who really matter--the people. The good news is that the candidates are focused on issues. It is a very substantive campaign, with the opportunity for people to make real distinctions and thus real choices. This is democracy at its best.

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Columns is produced by the UGA News Service, a unit of UGA Public Affairs.
Beth Roberts: Columns editor, Juliett Dinkins: Columns managing editor,
Janet Beckley: Columns art director. Peter Frey: Columns photo editor

Questions or comments should be directed to columns@uga.edu