Decision time
Sick of the ads? Tired of TV commentators? With months to go, here’s what you can expect as the election winds down.
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” In these remaining months, the candidates will also deploy their remaining weapons to attract the last undecided voters. Both candidates will make as many appearances in battleground states as they can—and send surrogates when they can’t be there themselves. Annie Presley, who served as National Deputy Finance Director for the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign, says in the 2000 election they counted every handshake as a vote.
You’ll also notice a rise in the political ads on television—including negative attack ads. If you’ve made up your mind, you’re likely turning these off—even if it’s a candidate you like and support. But these ads do have a role. “The positive ads remind the people who love you to vote. And they remind you why you love the candidate,” Presley says. “The negative ads absolutely stir people to hate. And they absolutely work. Otherwise they wouldn’t do them,” Presley says.
Another technique candidates will deploy is bracketing. “When your opponent is going into a city, you bracket his comments,” Presley says. “You know what he’s going to say. So you say it for him before he gets there. Then he says it. Then you say it for him after he leaves, but you say it in a way that either discounts what he says or you say it in a more positive way so you say it better. So this is going to be happening in those battleground states, and it’s effective if you can really punch it.”
In smaller elections, the key is name recognition and campaign messaging. “Most people don’t even know who their state representative is or their state senator,” says Woody Overton, a former assistant to U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton. “Voters expect you to come to their door. The mailings become increasingly more important and the message becomes more important. They don’t get on TV like the United States senator or the congressman or the presidential candidates.”
Overton, a former assistant to U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton, says the 24-hour news cycle has lead to divisiveness and encouraged extremists—a move he says has helped strangle the spirit of compromise that used to exist across party lines. “Unless you say something outrageous or take a hardened position, you’re not going to get on the news today,” Overton says. “More and more people are taking hardened positions, and they’re not talking to each other.”
Ultimately, Overton and Presley agree the economy will be a key factor in the election. “The last undecided voters, they’re waiting to see who can get the job done,” Presley says. “If the economy continues the way it’s going, it will be the final battle.”