Ezra Klein: Boosting the Brand

May 30, 2005

Boosting the Brand

I've been wondering why we don't see more political ads aimed at boosting parties as a whole, rather than particular candidates. Given that many voters will walk into voting booths with no idea who the downticket candidates are, spending money on improving the Democratic brand might win more votes than giving the cash to individual candidates. And there are lots of advantages that the Democratic Party as a whole is in position to claim. I've mentioned the deficit reduction stuff, but I'm also wondering if there's a nice way to sell parts of our anti-terrorism plan on TV. I'm not sure what the prospects for catchy jingles are here, but I'd like to see what some smart people would come up with. Maybe MoveOn could do another contest like the one where they came up with that great deficit ad. The media covers political ad buys heavily enough that even if we buy only a few spots in select markets, our message will probably reverberate for a while.

--Neil the Werewolf

May 30, 2005 in Elections | Permalink

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Comments

"...spending money on improving the Democratic brand might win more votes than giving the cash to individual candidates..."

a few thoughts:

1. "All politics is local"; I think it's probably better left to the individual candidates to decide how to run their campaigns. Especially in places like the Dakotas and the Carolinas where democrats can't always be expected to hold the party line, it would be a shame to see a candidate get beat over the head with his/her own party's advertising.

2. If you're right, and a national "branding" campaign actually tranlates into more democratic votes, then we're faced with the possibility of electing underqualified candidates simply because they're democrats. I would hate to see a slightly retarded democrat beat a thoroughly competant republican in MY district based solely on party allegiance.

This is not to say there aren't already a vast number of underqualified individuals serving in all kinds of elected positions, but it seems to me that a sure way to undercut the integrity of the democratic "brand" would be to elect lots of shitty democrats.

3. Good luck trying to get democrats to agree about what values their brand should encompass.

Posted by: nick | May 31, 2005 12:22:13 AM

1. Well, I imagine that every Democrat everywhere would be happy to be associated with deficit reduction and balanced budgets. A good economy is likewise fairly uncontroversial. I wouldn't want to do it on more controversial issues like abortion or gun control or trade.

2. I will declare victory and settle back into life as an apolitical academic long before the scenario you describe becomes a common occurrence.

3. see 1.

Posted by: Neil the Werewolf | May 31, 2005 12:32:27 AM

The suggestion is, without exaggerration, superb. The reason is that politics at both state and national legislative levels, is party activity. There's no other way to gain necessary majorities within legislative bodies. Of course, it needn't be exclusively partisan; one always hopes to horse-trade with some folk from the other side of the aisle.

The failures of the Democratic Party in recent years arise from the party-independence of individual candidates. If you've ever run for office, you know what I mean: Democratic candidates get enough union and corporate money that they don't need the Party.

Party politics is a good thing, a great organizing principle that puts the two-edged sword of participatory democracy into coherent forms.

Strengthening the brand is inescapable if Democrats are to regain a role beyond the Hastert-House and the Leiberman-I-just-wanna-be-friends status in which they now find themselves. Said strengthening, must, of course, not delve to the level of local politics, but given stem-cells, tax fairness for the middle class, and so ad nauseum, the only issue is: how self-centered can be the critical players, i.e., Dem House and Senate office-holders?

It's probably necessary to begin Repub-style punishment of those players. Success will not be short-term, as the players are, for now, awfully independent of the Party...it's all about primary challengers, MoveOn, and us in the blogosphere...

Posted by: NixonWatch | May 31, 2005 2:10:44 AM

HERE is the underlying problem that no one wishes to acknowledge.

Posted by: Robert Zimmerman | May 31, 2005 8:55:05 AM

HERE is the underlying problem that no one wishes to acknowledge.

What? Inept drawings?

Posted by: Karl the Idiot | May 31, 2005 9:55:53 AM

The brits had some success with this (though I really wish the Channel 4 ads were real). I guess its a little more important there, but It could be an effective tool here.

Posted by: Brew | May 31, 2005 12:32:56 PM

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